Dna fragment carrying toluene monooxygenase gene, recombinant plasmid, transformed microorganism, method for degrading chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds and aromatic compounds, and method for environmental remediation

ABSTRACT

A recombinant DNA is constructed by using a toluene monooxygenase gene isolated from  Ralstonia eutropha  strain TB64 and employed to provide the transformant which can express toluene monooxygenase useful for cleaning of aqueous media such as drain and waste water containing halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds or aromatic compounds, for remediation of soil polluted with such compounds, and cleaning of air (gas phase) polluted with volatile organic chlorine compounds.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a novel DNA fragment carrying a toluene monooxygenase gene, a novel recombinant DNA containing the DNA fragment, a transformant containing the recombinant DNA, and a method for degrading chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds such as trichloroethylene (TCE) and dichloroethylene (DCE) and aromatic compounds such as toluene, benzene, phenol, and cresol. The present invention also relates to a method for environmental remediation useful for cleaning of aqueous media such as wastewater and effluent containing at least either a chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon compound or an aromatic compound and air (gas phase) and soil polluted with chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds.

2. Related Background Art

Recently, it has become a serious problem the environmental pollution with volatile organic chlorinated compounds which are harmful to the organisms and hardly degradable. Especially, the soil in the industrial areas in Japan as well as abroad is considered to be contaminated with chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds such as tetrachloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), and dichloroethylene (DCE) and aromatic compounds such as toluene, benzene, phenol, and cresol. In fact, there have been a number of reports on actual detection of such pollutants through environmental surveys. It is supposed that these compounds remaining in soil dissolve in ground water via rainwater, and thereby spread over the surrounding areas. There is a strong suspicion that these compounds are carcinogens, and further, these are quite stable in the environment; therefore contamination of groundwater, which is used as a source of drinking water, has become a serious social problem. Therefore, cleaning of soil and aqueous media such as contaminated groundwater by removal and degradation of these compounds and accompanying cleaning of the surrounding gas phase is quite important in view of the environment protection, and technologies for remedying the environment (for example, adsorption treatment using activated carbon, degradation treatment using light and heat) have been developed. Current technologies, however, are not always practical in terms of cost and operability. Recently, microbial degradation of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds such as TCE that is stable in environment has been reported. The microbial degradation method has advantages such as: (1) degradation of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds into harmless substances by using appropriately selected microorganism; (2) no requirement for any special chemicals in principle; and (3) reduction of the labor and costs of maintenance.

The examples of microorganisms capable of degrading TCE are as follows:

Welchia alkenophila sero 5 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,736, ATCC 53570, Welchia alkenophila sero 33 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,736, ATCC 53571), Methylocystis sp. Strain M (Agric. Biol. Chem., 53, 2903 (1989), Biosci. Biotech. Bichem., 56, 486 (1992), ibid. 56, 736 (1992)), Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b (Am. Chem. Soc. Natl. meet. Div. Environ. Microbiol., 29, 365 (1989), Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 55, 3155 (1989), Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 28, 877 (1991), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-92274 specification, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 3-292970), Methylomonas sp. MM2 (Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 57, 236 (1991), Alcaligenes denitrificans ssp. Xylosoxidans JE75 (Arch. Microbiol., 154, 410 (1990), Alcaligenes eutrophus JMP134 (Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 56, 1179 (1990), Alcaligenes eutrophus FERM-13761 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 7-123976), Pseudomonas aeruginosa J1104 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-236895), Mycobacterium vaccae JOB5 (J. Gen. Microbiol., 82, 163 (1974), Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 55, 2960 (1989), ATCC 29678), Pseudomonas putida BH (Gesuidou Kyoukai-shi (Japan Sewage Works Association Journal), 24, 27 (1987)), Pseudomonas sp. strain G4 (Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 52, 383 (1968), ibid. 53, 949 (1987), ibid. 54, 951 (1988), ibid. 56, 279 (1990), ibid. 57, 193 (1991), U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,802, ATCC 53617, this strain was first classified as Pseudomonas cepacia and then changed to Pseudomonas sp.), Pseudomonas mendocia KR-1 (Bio/Technol., 7, 282 (1989)), Pseudomonas putida F1 (Appl. Environ Microbiol., 54, 1703 (1988), ibid. 54, 2578 (1988)), fluorescens PFL12 (Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 54, 2578 (1988)), Pseudomonas putida KWI-9 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-70753), Burkholderia cepacia KK01 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-22769), Nitrosomonas europaea (Appl. Environ. Microbio., 56, 1169 (1990), Lactobacillus vaginalis sp. nov (Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol., 39, 368 (1989), ATCC 49540), Nocardia corallina B-276 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-70881, FERM BP-5124, ATCC 31338), and so on.

The problem in actually using these degrading microorganisms in environmental remediation treatment, however, resides in optimizing and maintaining expression of their degradation activity for chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds such as TCE. In an environmental remediation treatment which utilizes phenol, toluene, methane, or the like as an inducer, continuous supply of the inducer is indispensable, since depletion of such inducers directly results in stoppage of degradation of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds. Presence of such inducers, on the other hand, may inhibit the efficient degradation of the target substance such as TCE, since the affinity of the chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds such as TCE as a substrate is considerably low in comparison with these inducers. In addition, precise control of the inducer concentration on the treatment spot is difficult.

Thus, use of an inducer is a large problem in practical application of environmental remediation treatment utilizing microorganisms.

In order to solve the problem, Nelson et al. developed a method using tryptophan as an inducer for degradation of volatile organic chlorinated compounds (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-502277). Tryptophan, however, is a very expensive substance, and although tryptophane has no toxicity or risk as a substance, it is not preferable to introduce excessive carbon and nitrogen sources into environment since it may induce eutrophication. In addition, the problem that tryptophan serves as a competitive inhibitor in degradation of TCE still remains.

Shields et al. obtained a mutant strain of Pseudomonas cepacia G4 (changed to Pseudomonas sp. upon deposition to ATCC) by the transposon technique, which mutant strain does not require an inducer (in this case, phenol or toluene) and can degrade TCE (Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 58, 3977 (1992), International Publication No. WO/19738). Also, a mutant not requiring methane as the inducer has been isolated from Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b, a methanotroph capable of degrading TCE (U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,940).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-294387 also discloses strain JM1 (FERM BP-5352) capable of degrading volatile organic chlorinated compounds and aromatic compounds without requiring an inducer, isolated by nitrosoguanidine mutagenization of strain J1 (FERM BP-5102). While, it has been studied to introduce resting cells expressing TCE-degrading activity into the remediation site after the preculture of the cells in the presence of an inducer (Environ. Sci. Technol., 30, 1982 (1996)).

It has been reported that remediation treatment not requiring the inducer actually makes the remediation treatment easy and efficient compared to the conventional treatment using inducers.

However, the growth control of the degrading microorganisms is very important for both the expression of the degradation activity on demand and the continuation of degradation. When resting cells are used, it is a problem to be solved that TCE cannot be degraded beyond the amount and period of degradation capacity of the introduced resting cells. In addition, in a large scale treatment, there are further problems that degradation activity will decrease since it takes a long time to prepare resting cells; the treating apparatus must be large in scale; treatment process is complicated; and the cost may be unfavorably high. Accordingly, it has been attempted to introduce a plasmid carrying a DNA fragment containing a gene region encoding oxygenase or hydroxylase into a host microorganism to make the host express the TCE degradation activity constitutively or inducibly using a harmless inducer. For example, there are Pseudomonas mendocina KR-1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-503866, Pseudomonas putida KWI-9 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-105691), Pseudomonas putida BH (Summary of 3rd Conference on Pollution of Ground Water/Soil and Its Protective Countermeasure, p.213 (1994)), and a transformant carrying both a toluene degradation enzyme gene derived from Pseudomonas putida F1 and a biphenyl degradation enzyme gene derived from Pseudomonas pseudoalkaligenes (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-143882). However, the reported TCE degradation activity of the transformants are low, and the advantages of the transformants has not been fully exploited for efficient degradation of TCE, such as the ease of degradation control, freedom in designing recombinant, and no requirements for inducers, far from efficient TCE degradation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel DNA fragment encoding a toluene monooxygenase of a high efficiency in degrading aromatic compounds and/or organic chorine compounds, a novel recombinant DNA containing the DNA fragment, and a transformant containing the recombinant DNA. It is another object of the present invention to provide an efficient biodegradation method for halogenated aliphatic compounds such as trichloroethylene (TCE) and dichloroethylene (DCE) and aromatic compounds such as toluene, benzene, phenol, and cresol using the transformant, specifically an efficient environmental remediation method useful for cleaning aqueous media such as wastewater and effluent containing halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds and/or aromatic compounds, remedying soil polluted with halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds or aromatic compounds, and cleaning air (gas phase) polluted with halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds.

The inventors of the present invention isolated a microorganism Ralstonia eutropha strain TB64 having a toluene monooxygenase that oxidizes toluene to ortho-cresol and 3-methylcatechol and deposited it in the National Institute of Bioscience and Human Technology, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology in accordance with the requirements of the Budapest Treaty, Deposit Date: Sep. 3, 1998, Accession No. FERM BP-6933). The inventors strained to isolate the toluene monooxygenase gene from the above strain TB64 and successful isolation and characterization of the gene completed the present invention.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a DNA fragment of about 5.3 Kb containing a toluene monooxygenase gene, having 3 BamHI, 1 ClaI, 1 EcoRI, 3 KpnI, 2 NcoI, 2 NspV, 2 ScaI, 2 SmaI, 2 SphI, 1 StuI, 0 DraI, 0 EcoRV, 0 HindIII, 0 HpaI, 0 NdeI, 0 PvuII, o ScaI, 0 Sse83871, 0 XbaI, 0 XhoI restriction sites, and having a restriction map of:

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a DNA fragment having a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 in the Sequence Listing.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a DNA fragment having a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 with deletion, substitution, and/or addition of one or more nucleotides encoding a protein having a toluene monooxygenase activity.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recombinant DNA comprising a vector which can be replicate or maintained in a host and the above mentioned DNA fragment.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a DNA fragment containing a portion encoding a toluene monooxygenase, the portion comprising a region encoding a polypeptide TomL having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3, a region encoding a polypeptide TomM having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4, a region encoding a polypeptide TomN having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5, a region encoding a polypeptide TomO having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6, and a region encoding a polypeptide TomP having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7 of the Sequence Listing, and the regions are aligned so that expressed TomL-TomP polypeptides can form an active monooxygenase protein.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recombinant DNA comprising a vector, a promoter, and the above mentioned DNA fragment, wherein the vector and the promoter are functionally ligated to the DNA fragment to enable expression of the toluene monooxygenase encoded by the DNA fragment in the host.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a DNA fragment comprising a region encoding a polypeptide TomK which has an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 and a property to enhance the toluene monooxygenase activity of a protein comprised of at least TomL-TomP; or a region encoding a variant TomK in which the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 is altered with the proviso that the property to enhance the toluene monooxygenase activity is not impaired.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided another recombinant DNA comprising a vector, a promoter, a first DNA fragment and a second DNA fragment;

wherein the first DNA encodes a toluene monooxygenase and comprises a region encoding a polypeptide TomL having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3, a region encoding a polypeptide TomM having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4, a region encoding a polypeptide TomN having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5, a region encoding a polypeptide TomO having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6, and a region encoding a polypeptide TomP having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7 of the Sequence Listing,

the second DNA fragment encodes a polypeptide TomK having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 and a property to enhance the toluene monooxygenase activity of a protein comprised of at least TomL to TomP; or encodes a variant TomK polypeptide in which the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 is altered with the proviso that the property to enhance the toluene monooxygenase activity is not impaired;

the first DNA fragment is functionally linked to the promoter to express the toluene monooxygenase activity, and the second DNA fragment is functionally linked to the promoter to express the property to enhance the activity of the toluene monooxygenase encoded by the first DNA fragment.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recombinant DNA comprising a vector; a first promoter and a first DNA fragment; and a second promoter and a second DNA fragment;

wherein the first DNA encodes a toluene monooxygenase and comprises a region encoding a polypeptide TomL having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3, a region encoding a polypeptide TomM having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4, a region encoding a polypeptide TomN having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5, a region encoding a polypeptide TomO having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6, and a region encoding a polypeptide TomP having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7 of the Sequence Listing,

the second DNA fragment encodes a polypeptide TomK having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 and a property to enhance the toluene monooxygenase activity of a protein comprised of at least TomL to TomP; or encodes a variant TomK polypeptide in which the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 is altered with the proviso that the property to enhance the toluene monooxygenase activity is not impaired;

the first DNA fragment is functionally linked to the first promoter to express the toluene monooxygenase activity, and the second DNA fragment is functionally linked to the second promoter to express the property to enhance the activity of the toluene monooxygenase encoded by the first DNA fragment.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transformant obtainable by introducing a recombinant DNA into a host microorganism, the recombinant DNA comprising a vector which can replicate or maintained in the host and ligated to a DNA fragment of about 5.3 Kb containing a toluene monooxygenase gene, having 3 BamHI, 1 ClaI, 1 EcoRI, 3 KpnI, 2 NcoI, 2 NspV, 2 ScaI, 2 SmaI, 2 SphI, 1 StuI, 0 DraI, 0 EcoRV, 0 HindIII, OHpaI, 0 NdeI, 0 PvuII, 0 ScaI, 0 Sse83871, 0 XbaI, 0 XhoI restriction sites, and having a restriction map of:

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transformant obtainable by introducing a recombinant DNA comprising the DNA fragment having a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 and ligated to a vector which can replicate or maintained in the host.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transformant obtainable by introducing into a host microorganism a recombinant DNA which comprises a vector, a promoter, and a DNA fragment, wherein the vector and the promoter are functionally ligated to the DNA fragment to enable expression of the toluene monooxygenase encoded by the DNA fragment in the host,

wherein the DNA fragment comprises a region sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3, a region encoding a polypeptide TomM having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4, a region encoding a polypeptide TomN having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5, a region encoding a polypeptide TomO having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6, and a region encoding a polypeptide TomP having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7 of the Sequence Listing.

Further, according to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transformant obtainable by introducing into a host microorganism a recombinant DNA comprising a vector, a promoter, a first DNA fragment, and a second DNA fragment;

wherein the first DNA encodes a toluene monooxygenase and comprises a region encoding a polypeptide TomL having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3, a region encoding a polypeptide TomM having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4, a region encoding a polypeptide TomN having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5, a region encoding a polypeptide TomO having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6, and a region encoding a polypeptide TomP having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7 of the Sequence Listing,

the second DNA fragment encodes a polypeptide TomK having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 and a property to enhance the toluene monooxygenase activity of a protein comprised of at least TomL to TomP; or encodes a variant TomK polypeptide in which the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 is altered with the proviso that the property to enhance the toluene monooxygenase activity is not impaired;

the first DNA fragment is functionally linked to the promoter to express the toluene monooxygenase activity, and the second DNA fragment is functionally linked to the promoter to express the property to enhance the activity of the toluene monooxygenase encoded by the first DNA fragment.

Further, according to still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a transformant obtainable by introducing into a host microorganism a recombinant DNA comprising a vector, a first promoter and a first DNA fragment, and a second promoter and a second DNA fragment;

wherein the first DNA encodes a toluene monooxygenase and comprises a region encoding a polypeptide TomL having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3, a region encoding a polypeptide TomM having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4, a region encoding a polypeptide TomN having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5, a region encoding a polypeptide TomO having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6, and a region encoding a polypeptide TomP having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7 of the Sequence Listing,

the second DNA fragment encodes a polypeptide TomK having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 and a property to enhance the toluene monooxygenase activity of a protein comprised of at least TomL to TomP; or encodes a variant TomK polypeptide in which the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 is altered with the proviso that the property to enhance the toluene monooxygenase activity is not impaired;

the first DNA fragment is functionally linked to the first promoter to express the toluene monooxygenase activity, and the second DNA fragment is functionally linked to the second promoter to express the property to enhance the activity of the toluene monooxygenase encoded by the first DNA fragment.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for producing a toluene monooxygenase, which comprises a step of making an above transformant produce a toluene monooxygenase being a gene product of the DNA fragment introduced into the transformant.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for degrading at least either of a chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon compound or an aromatic compound, which comprises a step of degrading at least either of the chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon compound or aromatic compound using the transformant according to any one of the aspects of the present invention mentioned above.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for remedying an environment polluted with at least either of a chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon compound or an aromatic compound as a pollutant, comprising a step of degrading the pollutants using the transformant according to any one of the aspects of the present invention mentioned above.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a component polypeptide having any one of amino acid sequences of SEQ ID Nos: 2-8, which can constitute a toluene monooxygenase.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toluene monooxygenase comprising at least component polypeptides TomL-TomP of amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NOs: 3-7.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a variant toluene monooxygenase obtainable by mutating the above mentioned toluene monooxygenase not to loose the enzyme activity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a restriction map of a DNA fragment of about 5.3 Kb carrying a toluene monooxygenase gene;

FIG. 2 is comprised of FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 2H, 2I, 2J, 2K, 2L, 2M, 2N, 2O, 2P, 2Q, 2R and 2S showing a nucleotide sequence of a toluene monooxygenase gene of FERM BP-6933;

FIG. 3 is an amino acid sequence (TomK) encoded by a region tomK in the nucleotide sequence of FIGS. 2A to 2S;

FIG. 4 is comprised of FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C showing an amino acid sequence (TomL) coded by a region tomL in the nucleotide sequence of FIGS. 2A to 2S;

FIG. 5 is an amino acid sequence (TomM) encoded by a region tomM in the nucleotide sequence of FIGS. 2A to 2S;

FIG. 6 is comprised of FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C and 6D showing an amino acid sequence (TomN) coded by a region tomN in the nucleotide sequence of FIGS. 2A to 2S;

FIG. 7 is an amino acid sequence (TomO) encoded by a region tomO in the nucleotide sequence of FIGS. 2A to 2S;

FIG. 8 is comprised of FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C showing an amino acid sequence (TomP) coded by a region tomP in the nucleotide sequence of FIGS. 2A to 2S;

FIG. 9 is an amino acid sequence (TomQ) encoded by a region tomQ in the nucleotide sequence of FIGS. 2A to 2S;

FIG. 10 is a nucleotide sequence of a first primer employed in Example 6;

FIG. 11 is a nucleotide sequence of a second primer employed in Example 6;

FIG. 12 is a nucleotide sequence of a third primer employed in Example 6; and

FIG. 13 is a nucleotide sequence of a fourth primer employed in Example 6.

FIG. 14 is a nucleotide sequence of a tom-KB primer employed in Example 7.

FIG. 15 is a nucleotide sequence of a tom-KBT primer employed in Example 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The DNA fragment containing a toluene monooxygenase gene according to the present invention is isolated from Ralstonia eutropha strain TB64 (FERM BP-6933, hereinafter referred to as Strain TB64). The microbiological characteristics and culture conditions of Strain TB64 are described later.

Strain TB64 can be cultured, for example, by inoculating an M9 liquid medium containing 0.1% yeast extract and 2 mM phenol with a colony of strain TB64 grown on an M9 agar medium supplemented with 0.2% yeast extract, followed by culture at 30° C. In this case, culture period of about 20 hours is suitable.

Isolation of the DNA fragment according to the present invention is achieved by partial digestion of the total DNA of Strain TB64 with a restriction enzyme Sau3AI. Specifically, total DNA can be prepared by the standard method, in which the above microorganism is grown in a suitable medium, for example, LB medium (containing 10 g of tryptone, 5 g of yeast extract, and 5 g of sodium chloride in 1 litter) and then cells are disrupted, for example, in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) at 70° C. The total DNA is then partially digested by Sau3AI to obtain a DNA fragment containing about 5.8 Kb region carrying a toluene monooxygenase gene. The DNA fragment thus obtained is ligated to a plasmid vector completely digested by BamHI, for example, pUC18, and the recombinant vector is introduced into competent cells of, for example, E. coli JM109, prepared by the Hanahan method to obtain transformants. Then, transformants can be selected by a suitable method, for example, by culturing cells on an LB medium plate containing ampicillin.

In order to select a transformant containing a recombinant vector carrying a toluene monooxygenase gene from the above transformants, it is preferable to add cresol, phenol, or the like to LB medium for transformant selection in advance. The transformant carrying a toluene monooxygenase gene can be selected as brown colonies, since these substrates are monooxygenated by toluene monooxygenase to produce methylcatechol or catechol which is then autooxidized to develop color. Alternatively, after culturing cells on an ordinary LB medium plate, various substrates may be sprayed onto the plate to select brown colonies in a similar manner.

The isolated DNA fragment of about 5.3 Kb has the following restriction sites:

Restriction enzyme Number of restriction sites BamHI 3 ClaI 1 EcoRI 1 KpnJ 3 NcoI 2 NspV 2 ScaI 2 SmaJ 2 SphI 2 StuI 1

The DNA fragment has no DraI, EcoRV, HindIII, HpaI, NdeI, NheI, PvuII, SacI, Sse8387I, XbaI or XhoI restriction site.

The restriction map of the DNA fragment of the present invention is as shown above. Toluene monooxygenase genes derived from Burkholderia cepacia G4 5223 PR1 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,317), derived from Burkholderia sp. JS150 (Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 61, 3336 (1995), derived from Pseudomonas pickettii PKO1 (J. Bacteriol., 176, 3749 (1994)), and derived from Pseudomonas mendocina KR1 (J. Bacteriol., 173, 3010 (1991)) were reported. Phenol hydroxylases reported to have a similar structure are derived from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus NCIIB8250 (Mol. Microbiol., 18, 13 (1995)), Pseudomonas sp. CF600 (J. Bacteriol., 172, 6826 (1990)), Pseudomonas spp. (J. Bacteriol., 177, 1485 (1995)), and Pseudomonas putida P35X (Gene, 151, 29 (1994)). The DNA fragment of the present invention has, however, a restriction map different from any of those. It is thus clear that the DNA fragment of the present invention contains a novel toluene monooxygenase gene.

Although the DNA fragment thus obtained can sufficiently enables the degradation of aromatic compounds and/or halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds even in pUC18, it can be integrated in an expression vector or a vector of a wide host range to improve the degradation ability or to be optimized for the treatment site.

The plasmid according to the present invention can be constructed from following elements:

1) Toluene monooxygenase gene;

2) Marker gene (drug-resistance, auxotrophic complement, or the like); and

3) Vector containing an autonomous replication sequence (plasmid, or the like).

As the toluene monooxygenase gene, the DNA fragment of about 5.3 kb as shown above can be employed by itself, or a constitution containing elements necessary for a toluene monooxygenase activity can be also employed, for example, with or without spacer sequences. Further, each element can be varied with the proviso that its function is not impaired. These variations can be attained by changing DNA sequences encoding them.

As the drug-resistance genes, an ampicillin resistance gene, a kanamycin (G418, neomycin) resistance gene, a tetracycline resistance gene, a chloramphenicol resistance gene, a hygromycin resistance gene can be employed. For auxotrophic complement, a gene sequence to supply the nutrient required by the host organism is used. Typically, a gene enabling the synthesis of the required amino acid is utilized.

As the autonomous replication sequences, a sequence derived from plasmid RSF1010, which can function as a wide host range replication region in most of the gram-negative bacteria, can be employed. It can be also employed vector pBBR122 (Mo Bi Tec) containing a wide host range replication region which does not belong to any incompatible groups, IncP, IncQ, or IncW or the like.

For the recombinant plasmid according to the present invention, various promoters and terminators can be employed and various factors can be further introduced to improve and control the ability of degrading aromatic compounds and/or halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds. Specifically, promoters such as lac, trc, tac, T3, and T7 can be employed. As a terminator, an rrnB operon terminator or the like can be employed. Also, introduction of a repressor gene such as lacIg and a lac operator enables expression control with an inducer such as isopropyl thiogalactoside (IPTG). Alternatively, the absence of these suppressor and operator as elements, enables constitutive expression of degradation activity. In addition, a temperature-sensitive control system or the like can be employed.

For recombination of a DNA fragment containing the toluene monooxygenase gene into an expression vector containing these regulating elements, natural restriction sites can be utilized as it is, or restriction sites may be newly created by site-directed mutagenesis or a polymerase chain reaction using a primer involving base substitution. In general, recombination into an expression vector often utilizes NcoI restriction sites. It is convenient to design so as to create an NcoI restriction site in the initiation codon ATG or GTG region by site-directed mutagenesis or primer design. Known methods using an adaptor can be employed. For optimization of expression, the DNA fragment may be properly deleted using exonuclease III or Bal3l nuclease. As described above, molecular biological techniques suitable for the purpose can be employed for recombination into an expression vector.

As a method for introducing the recombinant plasmid carrying a desired gene into a host organism, any methods that can introduce a foreign gene into a host can be employed, and known methods, for example, the calcium chloride method, the electroporation method, and the conjugation transfer method can be employed.

In the present invention, any microorganisms can be used as a host organism so long as it can express the aromatic compounds and/or halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds-degrading activity after the introduction of the recombinant plasmid, including the genera Escherichia, Pseudomonas, Burkholderia, Acinetobacter, Moraxella, Alcaligenes, Vibrio, Nocardia, Bacillus, Lactobacillus, Achromobacter, Arthrobacter, Micrococcus, Mycobacterium, Methylosinus, Methylomonas, Welchia, Methylocystis, Nitrosomonas, Saccharomyces, Candida, Torulopsis, and Ralstonia.

In addition, the aromatic compounds and/or halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds-degrading microorganisms such as strain J1, strain JM1, Pseudomonas sp. strain TL1, strain KKO1, Pseudomonas alcaligenes strain KB2, Alcaligenes sp. strain TL2, and Vibrio sp. strain KB1 can be employed as a host. These strains have been deposited in the National Institute of Bioscience and Human Technology, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology of Japan. The date of deposit, Accession No., and microbiological characteristics of these strains are shown below.

<Strain KKO1 (Deposit date: Mar. 11, 1992, Accession No. FERM BP-4235)>

A. Morphological Characteristics

(1) Gram staining: Negative

(2) Size and shape: Rod of 1.0-2.0 μm in length and 0.5 μm in width

(3) Motility: Motile

B. Growth on Various Culture Media

Medium Growth temperature (° C.) Growth Blood agar medium 37 + Lactose agar medium 37 + Chocolate agar medium 37 ++ GMA 37 − Scyllo 37 − Standard agar medium 4 − Standard agar medium 25 ± Standard agar medium 37 + Standard agar medium 41 ±

C. Physiological Characteristics

(1) Aerobic or anaerobic: Obligate aerobic

(2) Sugar degradation mode: Oxidation

(3) Oxidase production: +

(4) Silver nitrate reduction: +

(5) Hydrogen sulfide production: −

(6) Indole production: −

(7) Urease production: −

(8) Gelatin liquefaction: −

(9) Arginine hydrolysis: −

(10) Lysine decarboxylation: +

(11) Ornithine decarboxylation: −

(12) Utilization of citric acid: +

(13) Methyl carbinol acetyl reaction (VP reaction): −

(14) Detection of tryptophan deaminase: −

(15) ONPG:

(16) Assimilation of carbohydrates

Glucose: +

Fructose: +

Maltose: +

Galactose: +

Xylose: +

Mannitol: ±

Sucrose: −

Lactose: +

Esculin: −

Inositol: −

Sorbitol: −

Rhamnose: −

Melibiose: −

Amygdalin: −

L-(+)-arabinose: +

Strain J1 (Deposit date: May 25, 1994, Accession No. FERM BP-5102)

A. Morphological Characteristics

Gram staining: Positive

Size and shape of cells: Polymorphous rod of 1-6 μm in length and about 0.5-2 μm in width

Mobility: Negative

Colony: Cream to light pink, sticky

B. Growth on Various Media

BHIA: Good growth

MacConkey: No growth

C. Optimal Temperature for Growth: 25° C.>30° C.>35° C.

D. Physiological characteristics

Aerobic or anaerobic: aerobic

TSI (slant/butt): Alkaline/alkaline, H₂S (−)

Oxidase: Negative

Catalase: Positive

Sugar fermentation

Glucose: Negative

Sucrose: Negative

Raffinose: Negative

Galactose: Negative

Maltose: Negative

Urease: Positive

Esculin: Positive

Nitric acid: Negative

Strain JM1 (Deposit date: Jan. 10, 1995, Accession No. FERM BP-5352)

Gram staining and morphology: Gram-negative rod

Growth on various media

BHIA: Good growth

MacConkey: Possible to grow

Colony color: Cream

Optimal temperature for growth: 25° C.>30° C.>35° C.

Mobility: Negative (semi-fluid medium)

TSI (slant/butt): Alkaline/alkaline, H₂S (−)

Oxidase: Positive (weak)

Catalase: Positive

Sugar fermentation

Glucose: Negative

Sucrose: Negative

Raffinose: Negative

Galactose: Negative

Maltose: Negative

Urease: Positive

Esculin hydrolysis (β-glucosidase): Positive

Nitrate reduction: Negative

Indole production: Negative

Glucose acidification: Negative

Arginine dehydrase: Negative

Gelatin hydrolysis (protease): Negative

β-Galactosidase: Negative

Assimilation of compounds

Glucose: Negative

L-Arabinose: Negative

D-Mannose: Negative

D-Mannitol: Negative

N-Acetyl-D-glucosamine: Negative

Maltose: Negative

Potassium gluconate: Negative

n-Capric acid: Positive

Adipic acid: Negative

dl-Malic acid: Positive

Sodium citrate: Positive

Phenyl acetate: Negative

Strain TL1 (Deposit date: Jan. 10, 1995, Accession No. FERM P-14726/FERM BP-6923.

A. Gram Staining and Morphology: Gram-negative Rod

B. Growth on Various Media

Standard agar: Good growth

MacConkey agar: Poor growth

C. Optimal Temperature for Growth: 25° C.>35° C.

D. Physiological Characteristics

Aerobic/anaerobic: Aerobic

TSI (slant/butt): Alkaline/alkaline, H₂S (−)

Oxidase: Positive

Catalase: Positive

Oxidation/fermentation test: −/−

Potassium nitrate reduction: Negative

Indole production from L-tryptophan: Negative

Glucose acidification: Negative

Arginine dehydrase: Negative

Urease: Negative

Esculin hydrolysis (β-glucosidase): Negative

Gelatin hydrolysis (protease): Negative

β-Galactosidase: Negative

Cytochrome oxidase: Positive

E. Assimilation of Sugars, Organic Acids, etc.

Glucose: Positive

L-Arabinose: Positive

D-Mannose: Negative

D-Mannitol: Positive

N-Acetyl-D-glucosamine: Negative

Maltose: Negative

Potassium gluconate: Positive

n-Capric acid: Negative

Adipic acid: Positive

dl-Malic acid: Negative

Sodium citrate: Negative

Phenyl acetate: Negative

Strain TL2 (Deposit date on Nov. 15, 1994, Accession No. FERM BP-6913.

A. Gram Staining and Morphology: Gram-negative Rod

B. Growth on Various Media

Standard agar: Good growth

MacConkey agar: Poor growth

C. Optimal Temperature for Growth: 25° C.>35° C.

D. Physiological Characteristics

Aerobic/anaerobic: Aerobic

TSI (slant/butt): Alkaline/alkaline, H₂S (−)

Oxidase: Positive

Catalase: Positive

Oxidation/fermentation test: −/−

Potassium nitrate reduction: Positive

Indole production from L-tryptophan: Negative

Glucose acidification: Negative

Arginine dehydrase: Negative

Urease: Negative

Esculin hydrolysis (β-glucosidase): Negative

Gelatin hydrolysis (protease): Negative

β-Galactosidase: Negative

Cytochrome oxidase: Positive

E. Assimilation of Sugars, Organic Acids, etc.

Glucose: Negative

L-Arabinose: Negative

D-Mannose: Negative

D-Mannitol: Negative

N-Acetyl-D-glucosamine: Negative

Maltose: Negative

Potassium gluconate: Positive

n-Capric acid: Positive

Adipic acid: Positive

dl-Malic acid: Positive

Sodium citrate: Positive

Phenyl acetate: Positive

Strain KB1 (Deposit date: Nov. 15, 1994, Accession No. FERM BP-6914.

A. Gram Staining and Morphology: Gram-negative Rod

B. Growth Conditions on Various Media

Standard agar: Good growth

MacConkey agar: Good growth

C. Optimal Temperature for Growth: 25° C.>35° C.

D. Physiological Characteristics

Aerobic/anaerobic: Aerobic

TSI (slant/butt): Alkaline/alkaline, H2 S(−)

Catalase: Positive

Oxidation/fermentation test: −/−

Potassium nitrate reduction: Positive

Indole productivity from L-tryptophan: Negative

Glucose acidification: Negative

Arginine dehydrase: Positive

Urease: Positive

Esculin hydrolysis (β-glucosidase): Negative

Gelatin hydrolysis (protease): Negative

β-Galactosidase: Negative

Cytochrome oxidase: Positive

E. Assimilation of Sugars, Organic Acids, etc.

Glucose: Negative

L-Arabinose: Negative

D-Mannose: Negative

D-Mannitol: Negative

N-Acetyl-D-glucosamine: Positive

Maltose: Negative

Potassium gluconate: Positive

n-Capric acid: Positive

Adipic acid: Positive

dl-Malic acid: Positive

Sodium citrate: Negative

Phenyl acetate: Positive

Strain KB2 (Deposit date: Nov. 15, 1994, Accession No. FERM BP-5354)

A. Gram staining and Morphology: Gram-negative Rod

B. Growth on Various Media

Standard agar: Good growth

MacConkey agar: Good growth

C. Optimal Temperature for Growth: 25° C.>35° C.

Growth at 42° C.: Good

D. Physiological Characteristics

Aerobic/anaerobic: Aerobic

TSI (slant/butt): Alkaline/alkaline, H₂S (−)

Catalase: Positive

Oxidation/fermentation test: −/−

Potassium nitrate reduction: Positive

Indole production from L-tryptophan: Negative

Glucose acidification: Negative

Arginine dehydrase: Negative

Urease: Negative

Esculin hydrolysis (β-glucosidase): Negative

Gelatin hydrolysis (protease): Negative

β-Galactosidase: Negative

Cytochrome oxidase: Positive

E. Assimilation of Sugars, Organic Acids, etc.

Glucose: Negative

L-Arabinose: Negative

D-Mannose: Negative

D-Mannitol: Negative

N-Acetyl-D-glucosamine: Negative

Maltose: Negative

Potassium gluconate: Positive

n-Capric acid: Negative

Adipic acid: Positive

dl-Malic acid: Positive

Sodium citrate: Negative

Phenyl acetate: Negative

Burkholderia cepacia strain KK01 was once classified into genus Pseudomonas but reclassified into genus Burkholderia since Pseudomonas cepacia has been taxonomically changed to Burkholderia cepacia. The deposited strain KK01 itself, however, is the same.

Strain J1 is an aromatic compound-assimilating bacterium which degrades organic halogenated compounds with the participation of oxygenase. In spite of its excellent ability of degrading organic halogenated compounds that it can almost completely degrade about 20 ppm of TCE at a low temperature of 15° C. close to natural environment such as soil, it requires aromatic compounds such as phenol, toluene, and cresol as a degradation inducer. Strain JM1 was obtained by nitrosoguanidine mutagenization of strain J1, and has the same microbiological characteristics as the parental strain J1 except that it can degrade organic halogenated compounds in the absence of aromatic compounds such as phenol, toluene, and cresol as a degradation inducer.

In order to exploit the microbial degrading ability more effectively, it is preferable to select the host microorganism for recombinants from the microorganisms isolated to the environment to be treated, more preferably a dominant microorganism in the environment, considering environmental adaptation of the recombinant. Generally, in the natural world, microorganisms that have existed in an environment will adapt to the environment most probably, and the probability of the survival of foreign microorganisms introduced into the environment is not high. On the other hand, when a very strong microorganism is introduced from outside, it may disturb the existing ecosystem. Thus, the use of the indigenous microorganisms as a host is a superior method in environmental adaptability, survival, and safety.

A transformant to which a recombinant plasmid has been introduced may be cultured in the conditions suitable for the growth of the host. For example, a carbon and nitrogen source such as yeast extract, tryptone, and peptone, and a inorganic salt such as sodium chloride and potassium chloride can be used. An M9 medium (containing 6.2 g of Na₂HPO₄, 3.0 g of KH₂PO₄, 0.5 g of NaCl, and 1.0 g of NH₄Cl in 1 litter) supplemented with various minerals and suitable carbon sources such as sodium malate, sodium succinate, sodium lactate, sodium pyruvate, sodium glutamate, sodium citrate, etc. can also be employed. Further, yeast extract, tryptone, peptone, etc. can be used in combination. The pH of the growth medium and culture temperature can be adjusted to those suitable for the host microorganism, although pH of about 5-9 and culture temperature of 15-37° C. are generally preferable.

A transformant containing a recombinant DNA carrying a toluene monooxygenase gene can be suitably employed for the treatment to degrade at least either halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds or aromatic compounds (hereinafter referred to as “pollution compounds”) contained in a medium. In other words, the degradation treatment for the pollution compounds according to the present invention can be carried out by bringing the transformant into contact with the pollution compounds in an aqueous medium, soil, or a gas phase. Any method can be used to contact the degrading transformant with the pollution compounds so long as the transformant can express the degrading activity. Various methods such as a batch method, semi-continuous method, and continuous method can be employed. Semi-immobilized or immobilized transformant on an appropriate carrier can be also used. The environments such as polluted water, drainage, waste water, soil, and gas phase can be treated by various methods, as required. These treatment methods are described below.

The degradation treatment of the pollution compounds in an aqueous medium according to the present invention can be carried out by contacting the degrading transformant with the pollution compounds in the aqueous medium. The representative treating methods are described below. However, the method according to the present invention is not limited thereto.

The simplest method is, for example, to introduce the degrading transformant directly into an aqueous medium contaminated with the pollution compounds. In this case, it is preferable to optimize the pH, salt temperature of the aqueous medium, and the concentrations of the pollution compounds in accordance with the degrading transformant.

As another application mode, the degrading transformant is grown in a culture vessel, and an aqueous medium containing the pollution compounds is introduced into the vessel at a predetermined flow rate for degradation of these compounds. The aqueous medium can be introduced and discharged, continuously, intermittently or batch-wise according to the treatment capacity. It is preferable to optimize the system by a system control in accordance to the concentrations of the pollution compounds.

Alternatively, the degrading microorganism may be first attached to a carrier such as soil particles and the filled in a reactor vessel, to which an aqueous medium containing the pollution compounds is introduced for degradation treatment. In this case, any carrier can be employed not restricted to soil particles, but carriers having a high capacity to retain the transformant and not preventing aeration are preferable. To provide the transformant with habitats, it can be used various bioreactor carriers, for example, those conventionally employed in the pharmaceutical industry, food industry, and wastewater treatment systems. More specifically, there can be used inorganic particulate carries such as porous glass, ceramics, metal oxides, activated carbon, kaolinite, bentonite, zeolite, silica gel, alumina, and anthracite; gel carries such as starch, agar, chitin, chitosan, polyvinyl alcohol, alginic acid, polyacrylamide, carrageenan, and agarose; ion-exchange cellulose, ion-exchange resins, cellulose derivatives, glutaraldehyde, polyacrylic acid, polyurethane, polyester, or the like. As natural materials, cellulose materials such as cotton, hemp, and papers, and lignin materials such as saw dust and barks can be employed.

The degradation treatment of the pollution compounds in soil according to the present invention can be carried out by bringing the degrading transformant in contact with the pollution compounds in the soil. The representative treating methods are described below. However, the method according to the present invention is not limited thereto.

The simplest method is, for example, to introducing degrading transformant directly into the soil polluted with the pollution compounds. Introduction of the transformant may be carried out by spraying it on the surface of the soil and, for the treatment of rather deeper underground, by introducing it through the well arranged in the underground, wherein the application of pressure of air, water, etc. allows the transformant to spread over the wide area of the soil and makes the process more effective. When the transformant is introduced into soil, it is necessary to adjust various conditions of the soil so that they are suitable for the transformant used for the process.

Further, there is such a method that first the transformant is attached to a carrier, next the carrier is put in a reaction vessel, and then the reaction vessel is introduced into, primarily, the aquifer of the contaminated soil, to undergo degradation treatment. The form of the reaction vessel is desirably like a fence or a film which can cover the wide area of the soil. Any carrier can be used, but it is preferable to use those having an excellent retention of transformant and not inhibiting aeration. As a material of the carrier, which can provide suitable habitats for the transformant, for example, it can be used various bioreactor carriers, for example, those conventionally employed in the pharmaceutical industry, food industry, and wastewater treatment systems.

According to the present invention, the degradation treatment of the pollution compounds in gas phase can be achieved by contacting the transformant with the contaminants in the gas phase. The representative modes are shown below, but are not intended to limit the present invention.

One mode is, for example, such that the degradation transformant is cultured in a culture vessel, and then the gas containing the pollution compounds is introduced into the vessel at a given flow rate to undergo degradation treatment. The method for introducing the gas is not limited specifically, but it is desirably such that introduction of the gas causes agitation of the culture medium and promote its aeration. Introduction and discharge of the gas may be carried out continuously, or it may be carried out intermittently according to the degradation capacity. A batch method is also applicable. Preferably such control is systematized in accordance with the concentrations of the pollution compounds to give optimum results.

Another mode is such that the transformant is attached to a carrier like soil particles, next the carrier is put into a reaction vessel, and then the gas containing the pollution compounds is introduced into the vessel to undergo degradation treatment. Besides particles of soil, any carrier can be used, however, it is desirable to use those having an excellent retention of transformant and not inhibiting aeration. As a material of the carrier, which can provide suitable habitats for transformant, for example, it can be used various bioreactor carriers, for example, those conventionally employed in the pharmaceutical industry, food industry, and wastewater treatment systems.

As materials which can retain the degrading transformant and supply it with nutrient, many examples can be found in the compost used in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries. Specifically, dry materials from plants, such as straw of grains, sawdust, rice bran, bean curd lees, bagasse and so on, and seafood wastes, such as shells of crabs and lobster and so on are applicable.

In cleaning of contaminated gas, the degrading transformant may be introduced after the carrier material is packed. To make the degradation reaction efficient, it is preferable that the above-mentioned nutrient, water content, oxygen concentration, etc. are kept in desirable conditions for the growth of the transformant. The ratio of the carrier to water in a reaction vessel may be determined considering the growth of the transformant and aeration. The shape of the vessel may be selected considering the amount and concentration of the gas to be treated, but preferably it is designed to enhance the contact of the gas with the transformant held on the carrier. For example, column, tube, tank and box type can be used as the reaction vessel. The vessel of these forms may be joined together with an exhaust duct and a filter to form one unit, or plural vessels may be connected according to the capacity.

Polluted gas is sometimes adsorbed by the carrier material in the beginning of the reaction and there is very few case where the effect of utilizing transformant may not be exhibit. After a certain period of time, however, it is said that the pollutants adhered to the carrier material is degraded, and further contaminants can be adsorbed by the surface of the carrier material which has restored adsorption capacity. Thus, a constant decomposition rate is expected without saturation of the pollutant-eliminating ability.

The method according to the present invention is applicable for the treatment of waste liquid, soil and air in a closed system or open system. Moreover, transformant may be immobilized on a carrier, or various methods promoting their proliferation may be employed in combination.

The present invention is explained more specifically by means of the following examples.

The complete taxonomical description of Strain TB64 (FERM BP-6933) is as follows:

1. Morphological Characteristics

Shape and dimension: Rod (0.3 to 0.5 μm in width, 1.0 to 2.0 μm in length)

Sporulation: No spore

Flagellation: Peritrichous flagella

Gram stain: Negative (18 hr, 24 hr, 36 hr)

2. Physiological and Biological Properties:

Anaerobic growth: Negative

Catalase: Positive

oxidase: Negative

Litmus milk: Alkali

Reduction of Nitrate: Negative

V-P reaction: Negative

pH of V-P medium: pH 7.76

Casein hydrolysis: Negative

Gelatin digestion: Negative

Starch hydrolysis: Negative

DNA hydrolysis: Negative

Urea hydrolysis: Negative

Tween 20 hydrolysis: Negative

Tween 40 hydrolysis: Negative

Tween 60 hydrolysis: Negative

Tyrosine hydrolysis: Positive

Utilization of organic acids

Citric acid: Positive

Propionic acid: Positive

Acetic acid: Positive

Fumaric acid: Positive

L-malic acid: Positive

Succinic acid: Positive

Utilization of inorganic nitrogen:

Ammonium salts: positive

Nitrates: Positive

Indole production: Negative

H₂S production: Negative

Pigment production on various media:

P agar: Negative

F agar: Negative

King A agar: Negative

King B agar: Negative

Growth in the presence of NaCl:

2%: Positive

5%: Negative

7%: Negative

Growth pH: 5.0-9.0

Growth temperature: 10° C.-40° C.

Growth in the presence of 0.02% sodium azide: negative

Growth in the presence of 0.001% lysozyme: positive

OF test: negative

Production of acid from sugars:

Glucose: negative

Arabinose: negative

Fructose: negative

Galactose: negative

Maltose: negative

Lactose: negative

Sucrose: negative

Xylose: negative

Trehalose: negative

Glycerol: negative

Mannitol: negative

Sorbitol: negative

Sorbose: negative

Mannose: negative

Rhamnose: negative

Adonitol: negative

Gas production:

Glucose: negative

Arabinose: negative

Xylose: negative

Mannitol: negative.

3. Compositional Analysis of Quinones

Ubiquinone 8: 95.4%

EXAMPLE 1 Cloning of Toluene Monooxygenase Gene of Strain TB64

Cells of strain TB64 (FERM BP-6933) which can assimilate toluene were cultured in 100 ml of LB medium (containing 10 g of tryptone, 5 g of yeast extract, and 5 g of sodium chloride in 1 liter) overnight, harvested and washed with 100 mM phosphate buffer (pH 8.0). To the cells thus obtained, 10 ml of STE (10 mM tris (pH 8.0)/1 mM EDTA/100 mM sodium chloride) and 1 ml of 10% sodium dodecyl sulfate (final concentration of about 1%) were added. After the cells were incubated at 70° C. for 30 minutes for lysis, phenol treatment and ethanol sedimentation were carried out. DNA thus obtained was dissolved in a 10 mM tris (pH 8.0)/1 mM EDTA buffer (TE).

The DNA thus obtained was dissolved at various concentrations and treated with a restriction enzyme Sau3AI (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) at 37° C. for 15 minutes for partial digestion. Aliquots of the partial digestion products were applied to gel electrophoresis on 0.8% agarose gel to identify the samples almost digested to about 5-10 kb. These samples were applied to spin column HR-400 (Amarsham-Pharmacia) to purify DNA fragments.

The DNA fragments were ligated to plasmid pUC18 (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) completely digested with a restriction enzyme BamHI (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) and dephosphorylated with bovine alkaline phosphatase (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), using DNA Ligation Kit Ver. 2 (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.). Recombinant plasmids thus prepared were then introduced into the host E. coli HB101(Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), and the cells were cultured on LB agar plates containing 100 μg/ml of ampicillin as a selection agent and 200 ppm phenol as an indicator for toluene monooxygenase activity. About 15,000 colonies of transformants grew on the plates.

Three brown colonies were found in these colonies and picked up. Recombinant plasmid DNA carrying toluene monooxygenase gene was extracted from the cells of each brown colony and the restriction map thereof was determined. It was found that all recombinant plasmids derived from the three colonies had a common insertion fragment of 5.3 kb. A plasmid containing only the common fragment of 5.3 kb was designated as pTB64 and a restriction map of the inserted DNA fragment was made (See FIG. 1). A recombinant E. coli HB101 carrying a plasmid containing a 6.1 kb insertion fragment containing this common 5.3 kb fragment was deposited in the National Institute of Bioscience and Human Technology, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology in accordance with the Budapest Treaty under the accession No. FERM BP-6942. Its microbiological characteristics were identical to those of E. coli HB101 except that it can degrade aromatic compounds and halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds.

In order to confirm that the inserted DNA fragment of pTB64 was derived from strain TB64, southern hybridization was performed. DNA was extracted from strain TB64 and completely digested with NcoI (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) or KpnI (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), and then subjected to southern hybridization. The inserted DNA fragment of pTB64 was digested with EcoRI-SphI (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) to obtain a DNA fragment of about 0.8 kb, and this was used as a probe. As a result, a strong signal was observed around 1.8 kb with the NcoI-digested DNA, and around 0.8 and 1.5 kb with the KpnI digested DNA, in a good agreement with the lengths of the fragments predicted from the restriction map. Consequently, it was confirmed that the toluene monooxygenase gene contained in pTB64 was derived from the strain TB64.

EXAMPLE 2 Monooxygenation by E. coli HB101(pTB64)

The cells of E. coli HB101(pTB64) were inoculated in 100 ml of LB medium, cultured at 37° C. overnight, harvested, washed, and then resuspended in 100 ml of M9 medium (6.2 g of Na₂HPO₄, 3.0 g of KH₂PO₄, 0.5 g of NaCl, and 1.0 g of NH₄Cl per liter) supplemented with a mineral stock solution of the following composition (3 ml/liter of M9 medium)(referred to as M9+mineral solution).

Composition of Mineral Stock Solution

Nitrilotriacetic acid 1.5 g MgSO₄ 3.0 g CaCl₂ 0.1 g Na₂MoO₄ 0.1 g FeSO₄ 0.1 g NnSO₄ 0.5 g NaCl 1.0 g ZnSO₄ 0.1 g CuSO₄ 0.1 g AlK(SO₄)₂ 0.1 g H₃BO₃ 0.1 g NiCl₂ 0.1 g

Distilled water (to 1,000 ml)

Then, 27.5 ml vials were prepared, and 10 ml aliquot of the above suspension was placed in each vial, which was then tightly sealed with a teflon-coated butyl rubber stopper and aluminum seal. Gaseous toluene or benzene was introduced into each vial with a syringe to a concentration of 100 ppm (a concentration supposing all toluene or benzene completely dissolved in the aqueous phase in the vial). After incubation at 30° C. for 3 hours, 1 ml aliquot was taken from each vial, and cells were removed by centrifugation and substances of 10,000 or higher in molecular weight were removed by ultrafiltration. Production of ortho-cresol and 3-methylcatechol from toluene and phenol and catechol from benzene was confirmed by HPLC, to show that toluene and benzene are monooxygenated by toluene monooxygenase encoded by the cloned DNA fragment.

EXAMPLE 3 Degradation of Aromatic Compounds and Halogenated Aliphatic Hydrocarbon Compounds by E. coli HB101(pTB64)

The cells of E. coli HB101(pTB64) cultured as described in Example 2 were suspended in M9+mineral solution. 10 ml aliquots of the suspension were placed in 27.5 ml vials. Each vial was tightly sealed with a teflon-lined butyl rubber stopper and an aluminum seal. Gaseous trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (cis-1,2-DCE), trans-1,2-dichloroethylene (trans-1,2-DCE), 1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE), toluene, and benzene were injected into respective vials to a concentration of 25 ppm (a concentration supposing the introduced substance completely dissolved in the aqueous phase in the vial). The vials were shaken and incubated at 30° C. The concentrations of the respective compounds in the gas phase were measured by gas chromatography after 6 hours. The results are shown in Table 1. E. coli HB101 harboring pUC18 (E. coli HB101(pUC18)) was employed as a control and degradation was evaluated in the same manner.

Similarly, phenol, ortho-cresol, meta-cresol and para-cresol were introduced into respective 27.5 ml vials each containing 10 ml of the cell suspension at a concentration of 50 ppm. Each vial was tightly sealed with a butyl rubber stopper and aluminum seal. The vials were shaken and incubated at 30° C. The quantities of the respective compounds in the liquid phase were determined by the amino antipyrine method with a spectrophotometer to obtain their concentrations after 6 hours. The results are shown in Table 2. E. coli HB101(pUC18) was employed as a control and degradation was evaluated in the same manner.

The above results show that E. coli HB101(pTB64) had an excellent ability to degrade aromatic compounds and halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds.

EXAMPLE 4 Definition of Toluene Monooxygenase Region

The toluene monooxygenase region was defined further by stepwise deletion or subcloning of plasmid pTB64 obtained in Example 1 using restriction sites thereof. Toluene monooxygenase activity was evaluated by the method in Example 3, and 25 ppm toluene was employed as a substrate.

First, a subclone pTB64 ΔBamHI in which a top 0.7-kb fragment was deleted was prepared from pTB64 using the ScaI sites at 0.7 kb and 5.3 kb. More specifically, pTB64 was completely digested by restriction enzymes ScaI (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) to obtain three fragments of about 0.9 kb, 2.4 kb and 4.6 kb. The fragments were separated by agarose gel electrophoresis, and the 4.6 kb fragment was cut out and recovered from the gel and purified with a spin column HR-400 (Amarsham-Pharmacia). The fragment was ligated to pUC18 previously completely digested by HincII enzymes, and E. coli HB101 was transformed with the recombinant plasmid according to the conventional method. E. coli HB101 cells were then applied on an LB plate containing 100 μg/ml of ampicillin to select transformants. From the cells grown overnight in LB medium, plasmid DNA was extracted by an alkaline method to confirm the presence of pTB64ΔScaI, and a transformant carrying pTB64 ΔScaI was isolated. E. coli HB101(pTB64ΔScaI) cells were evaluated for toluene monooxygenase activity. No degradation of toluene was observed, indicating that the 0.7-kb fragment is essential for toluene monooxygenase activity.

Then, a subclone pTB64ΔEcoRI was prepared by deleting a 0.3 kb fragment from pTB64 using the 0.3 kb EcoRI restriction site of pTB64. More specifically, pTB64 was partially digested by restriction enzyme EcoRI, and then self-ligated to transform E. coli HB101. The E. coli HB101 transformants were then selected on an LB plate containing 100 μg/ml of ampicillin. After the transformants were cultured in LB medium overnight, the plasmid DNA was extracted from the cells by the alkaline method to confirm the presence of pTB64ΔEcoRI and a transformant carrying pTB64ΔEcoRI was isolated. E, coli HB101(pTB64ΔEcoRI) was evaluated for toluene monooxygenase activity. Degradation of toluene was observed, but the activity was lower than that of E. coli HB101(pTB64), indicating that the 0.3 kb fragment was not essential for toluene monooxygenase activity but necessary for full expression of the activity.

Further, the stepwise deletion method was employed to restrict the toluene monooxygenase region from the opposite direction. More specifically, stepwise deletion was introduced from the XbaI restriction site using XbaI (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) restriction site and Sse8387I (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) restriction site of pUC18. The stepwise deletion was carried out using Deletion Kit for Kilo-Sequence (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) according to the attached protocol. The results of the activity evaluation of various deletion clones thus obtained show that the region up to 4.8 kb is essential for expression of the activity and a region from 4.8 kb to 5.3 kb is not especially required for degradation activity.

EXAMPLE 5 Sequencing of Toluene Monooxygenase Gene

The nucleotide sequence of pTB64 was determined as follows. pTB64 was digested by various restriction enzymes and subcloned into pUC18 plasmid. Deletion clones were prepared from pTB64 or subclones of partial pTB64 using Deletion Kit for Kilo-Sequence (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) to determine the nucleotide sequence of the 5.3 kb fragment encoding toluene monooxygenase by the dideoxy method. The dideoxy method was carried out using ABI PRISM Cycle Sequencing Kit (Perkin Elmer Corporation) according to the attached protocol for reaction conditions, etc. DNA recombination and Kilo-Sequence method were also performed according to the conventional methods or the manufacturer's protocols attached. The results of sequencing show that the DNA encoding toluene monooxygenase is contained in 5,327 bases comprised of 7 coding regions as shown by SEQ ID NO: 1; a region tomK encoding the amino acid sequence TomK of SEQ ID NO: 2 ; a region tomL encoding the amino acid sequence tomL of SEQ ID NO: 3; a region tomM encoding an amino acid sequence TomM of SEQ ID NO: 4; a region tomN encoding an amino acid sequence TomN of SEQ ID NO: 5; a region tomO encoding an amino acid sequence (TomO) of SEQ ID NO: 6; a region tomP encoding an amino acid sequence TomP of SEQ ID NO: 7; and a region tomQ encoding an amino acid sequence TomQ of SEQ ID NO: 8.

Here, considering the results of Example 4 together, the polypeptide (TomK)(SEQ ID NO: 2) encoded by tomK is not essential for expression of the activity but the presence of TomK clearly enhances the toluene monooxygenase activity. It is, therefore, desirable for sufficient expression of the activity that TomK is present as a component of toluene monooxygenase. The polypeptide (TomQ)(SEQ ID NO: 8) encoded by tomQ is not essential for expression of the activity. In addition, the toluene monooxygenase activity is not affected by the presence of TomQ. Thus, it is not essential to contain TomQ as a component of toluene monooxygenase.

In other words, any DNA fragment containing segments encoding the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NOs: 3-7 as the components of toluene monooxygenase where these segments are aligned so that expressed TomL to TomP having the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NOs: 3-7 can form a protein with a toluene monooxygenase activity is included in the preferred DNA fragment of the present invention. DNA fragments with variation in at least one segment of the DNA fragment with the proviso that the activity of toluene monooxygenase is not impaired are included in the preferred DNA fragments of the present invention.

DNA fragments further containing a region encoding the amino acid sequence TomK of SEQ ID NO: 2 or a variant in which the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 is altered with the proviso that it does not impair the property to enhance a toluene monooxygenase activity are also included in the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

EXAMPLE 6 Recombination of Toluene Monooxygenase Gene into Expression Vectors-(1)

As expression vectors, pSE280 (Invitrogen), and pSE380 (Invitrogen) were employed. They contain an ampicillin-resistant gene as a marker, and pSE280 and pSE380 have a sequence derived from ColE1 as ori. All these two vectors contain a trc promoter and a rrnB terminator, and a ribosome-binding site is located before the NcoI restriction site. lacIq is contained in pSE380 but not in pSE280.

To incorporate the toluene monooxygenase gene into these vectors, NcoI restriction sites were introduced in tomK and tomL. The following 4 primers (Amarsham-Pharmacia) were prepared to introduce the NcoI restriction site by PCR:

1) tom-K SEQ ID 5′-AGCGACCCATTCACCATGGCCCTGCAGACCCCAG-3′ 34 NO: 9 mer 2) tom-L SEQ ID 5′-CTCAGGAGCAACCCATGGCAATCGAGCTGAAAAC-3′ 34 NO: 10 mer 3) tomΔNcoI SEQ ID 5′-TACTTCCAGTACGCGTCGATGGTCAGGCGGAACG-3′ 34 NO: 11 mer 4) tail SEQ ID 5′-GCCCAGCTTTGCCATGGCGGCGAGCAGCGATTCG-3′ 34 NO: 12 mer

The tom-K was designed to introduce the NcoI restriction site at the first ATG site (bases 200-202 in the Sequence Listing) of tomK. Similarly, tom-L was designed to introduce the NcoI site at the first GTG site (bases 442-444 in the SEQ ID NO: 1) of tomL. The tomΔNcoI was designed to perish the NcoI site in the toluene monooxygenase gene (about 1.95 kb). Using primer combinations of the primer (3) with the respective primers (1) and (2) and the recombinant plasmid DNA of FERM BP-6942 as the template, PCR was performed. PCR was carried out by using Takara LA PCR Kit Ver. 2 (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) with a reaction volume of 50 μl, and the reaction was started at 94° C. for 1 minute and then a reaction cycle of 98° C. for 20 seconds followed by 72° C. for 5 minutes was repeated for 30 times (shuttle PCR), and then followed by reaction at 72° C. for 10 minutes. The reaction conditions were according to the manufacturer's protocol.

As a result, the combinations of the primers (1) and (3), and (2) and (3) gave the PCR products of about 1.8 kb, and about 1.5 kb, respectively. Then, using these products as the primer in combination with the primer (4) respectively, PCR was carried out. The reaction conditions were the same as the above. As a result, the combinations of the primers ((1)-(3)) and (4), and ((2)-(3)) and (4) gave the PCR products of about 4.8 kb, and about 4.5 kb, respectively. The respective DNA fragments were digested with the restriction enzyme NcoI (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.). It was confirmed that the NcoI site in the oxygenase had completely disappeared. These NcoI-digested products were purified using a spin column HR-4000 (Amarsham-Pharmacia) and used for the following ligation reaction.

The above-mentioned expression vector were completely digested with the restriction enzyme NcoI, dephosphorylated, subjected to phenol treatment, and purified with a spin column HR-400 (Amarsham-Pharmacia). The vectors were then ligated to NcoI-digested PCR products to transform E. coli HB101 (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) according to the conventional method. The transformed E. coli HB101 cells were then grown on LB plate containing 100 μg/ml of ampicillin for transformant selection. After the transformants were cultured in LB liquid medium at 37° C. overnight, plasmid DNA was extracted by the alkaline method to examine the recombinant plasmids. Transformants in which the respective PCR fragments were accurately inserted into the NcoI restriction site of the respective expression vectors were obtained.

A list of the obtained recombinant plasmids are shown in Table 3.

EXAMPLE 7 Recombination of Toluene Monooxygenase Gene into Expression Vectors-(2)

A recombinant vector to express only TomK was constructed using pSTV28 (TaKaRa) as the expression vector. Since pSTV28 contains a chloramphenicol resistance gene as a marker and an ori derived from pACYC, it is compatible with pSE280 or pSE380 in the same cell. pSTV28 does not contain lacIq. BamHI sites were introduced upstream and downstream tomK in order to incorporate a gene encoding TomK into this vector. Two primers (Amarsham-Pharmacia Biotec) were prepared to introduce BamHI sites by PCR.

5) tom-KB SEQ ID 5′-CAATGAAAGGGGATCCGAGGCGACATCGAC-3′ 30 mer NO: 13 6) tom-KBT SEQ ID 5′-ATGTCGACGGGATCCAGCTCGATTGTCACG-3′ 30 mer NO: 14

Here, tom-KB was designed to introduce a BamHI site upstream SD sequence of tomK, tom-KBT was designed to introduce a BamHI site downstream the termination codon of tomK.

Using primer combinations of the primers (5) and (6) and the recombinant plasmid DNA of FERM BP-6942 as the template, PCR was performed. PCR was carried out by using Takara LA PCR Kit Ver. 2 (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) with a reaction volume of 50 μl, and the reaction was started at 94° C. for 1 minute and then a reaction cycle of 98° C. for 20 seconds followed by 72° C. for 5 minutes was repeated for 30 times (shuttle PCR), and then followed by reaction at 72° C. for 10 minutes. The reaction conditions were according to the manufacturer's protocol.

As a result, a 0.3 kb PCR product was obtained. Then, the product was completely digested by BamHI (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) and purified using a spin column HR-4000 (Amarsham-Pharmacia) and used for the following ligation reaction.

The above-mentioned pSTV28 was completely digested with the restriction enzyme BamHI, dephosphorylated, subjected to phenol treatment, and purified with a spin column HR-400 (Amarsham-Pharmacia). The vector was then ligated to BamHI-digested PCR product to transform E. coli HB101(Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) according to the conventional method. The transformed E. coli HB101 cells were then grown on LB plate containing 25 μg/ml chloramphenicol for transformant selection. After the transformants were cultured in LB liquid medium at 37° C. overnight, plasmid DNA was extracted by the alkaline method to examine the recombinant plasmids. Transformants in which the PCR fragment was accurately inserted into the BamHI restriction site of pSTV28 were obtained. The obtained recombinant plasmid was designated as pKS-64.

EXAMPLE 8 Ability of E. coli HB101 Recombinants to Degrade Aromatic Compounds and Halogenated Aliphatic Hydrocarbon Compounds (Without Induction With IPTG)

The cells of the E. coli strains, each harboring one of the 4 recombinant plasmids obtained as described in Example 6, were inoculated in 100 ml of LB medium, cultured at 37° C. overnight, harvested, washed, and suspended in an M9+mineral solution. 10 ml aliquots of the suspension were put in 27.5 ml vials, and each vial was tightly sealed with a Teflon-coated butyl rubber stopper and aluminium seal. Then, gaseous trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (cis-1,2-DCE), trans-1,2-dichloroethylene (trans-1,2-DCE), 1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE), toluene, and benzene were added to respective vials with a syringe to a concentration of 50 ppm (supposing all of the introduced substance dissolved in the aqueous phase in the vial). The vials were shaken and incubated at 3° C. The concentrations of the respective compounds in the gas phase after 6 hour incubation were measured by gas chromatography. The results are shown in Table 4. E. coli HB101 harboring no plasmid was employed as a control and degradation was evaluated in the same manner.

Similarly, phenol, ortho-cresol, meta-cresol and para-cresol were introduced into respective 27.5 ml vials each containing 10 ml of the cell suspension at a concentration of 50 ppm. Each vial was tightly sealed with a butyl rubber stopper and aluminum seal. The vials were shaken and incubated at 30° C. The quantities of the respective compounds in the liquid phase were determined by the aminoantipyrine method with a spectrophotometer to determine their concentrations after 6 hours. The results are shown in Table 5. E. coli HB101 harboring no plasmid was employed as a control and degradation was evaluated in the same manner.

The above results confirm that E. coli HB101 recombinants containing toluene monooxygenase gene have an excellent ability to degrade the aromatic compounds and halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds. It is shown that transformants harboring pSE380-derived monooxygenase expression vectors express a lower degrading activity in a system not containing IPTG than those harboring pSE280-derived plasmids, since pSE280 lacks lacIq.

EXAMPLE 9 Ability of E. coli HB101 Recombinants to Degrade Aromatic Compounds and Halogenated Aliphatic Hydrocarbon Compounds (With Induction with IPTG)

Each E. coli HB101 transformant strain harboring one of the four recombinant plasmids obtained as described in Example 6, was inoculated in 100 ml of LB medium, cultured at 37° C. to reach OD₆₀₀ of about 0.8, and then IPTG was added to 1 mM concentration followed by further incubation at 37° C. for 5 hours. Then the cells were harvested, washed and suspended in an M9+mineral solution. Ten ml aliquots of the suspension were placed in 27.5 ml vials, and each vial was tightly sealed with a Teflon-coated butyl rubber stopper and aluminium seal. Then, gaseous trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (cis-1,2-DCE), trans-1,2-dichloroethylene (trans-1,2-DCE), 1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE), toluene, and benzene were added to respective vials with a syringe to a concentration of 50 ppm (supposing all of the introduced substance dissolved in the aqueous phase in the vial). The vials were shaken and incubated at 30° C. The concentrations of the respective compounds in the gas phase after 6 hour incubation were measured by gas chromatography. The results are shown in Table 6. E. coli HB101 harboring no plasmid was employed as a control and degradation was evaluated in the same manner. Similarly, phenol, ortho-cresol, meta-cresol and para-cresol were introduced into respective 27.5 ml vials each containing 10 ml of the cell suspension, at a concentration of 50 ppm. Each vial was tightly sealed with a butyl rubber stopper and aluminum seal. The vials were shaken and incubated at 30° C. The quantities of the respective compounds in the liquid phase were determined by the amino antipyrine method with a spectrophotometer to determine their concentrations after 6 hours. The results are shown in Table 7. E. coli HB101 harboring no plasmid was employed as a control and degradation was evaluated in the same manner.

The above results confirm that E. coli HB101 recombinants containing toluene monooxygenase gene have an excellent ability to degrade aromatic compounds and halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds. It is shown that transformants harboring pSE380-derived expression vectors for the monooxygenase show more excellent degrading activity by IPTG induction.

EXAMPLE 10 Ability of E. coli HB101 Recombinants to Degrade Aromatic Compounds and Halogenated Aliphatic Hydrocarbon Compounds (Without Induction With IPTG)(2)

Two E. coli HB10l transformants harboring pL2-64 and pL3-64 recombinant plasmids respectively obtained in Example 6 were treated by the calcium chloride method to further transform them with pKS-64 obtained in Example 7.

Transformation was carried conventionally and transformants were selected by spreading the cells onto an LB agar medium containing 25 μg chloramphenicol and 100 μg/ ml ampicillin. The cells of each transformant were inoculated in 100 ml of LB medium, cultured at 37° C. overnight, harvested, washed, and suspended in an M9+mineral solution. 10 ml aliquots of the suspension were placed in 27.5 ml vials, and each vial was tightly sealed with a Teflon-coated butyl rubber stopper and aluminium seal. Then, gaseous trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-1, 2-dichloroethylene (cis-1,2-DCE), trans-1,2-dichloroethylene (trans-1,2-DCE), 1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE), toluene, and benzene were added to respective vials with a syringe to a concentration of 50 ppm (supposing all of the introduced substance dissolved in the aqueous phase in the vial). The vials were shaken and incubated at 30° C. The concentrations of the respective compounds in the gas phase after 6 hour incubation were measured by gas chromatography. The results are shown in Table 8. E. coli HB101 harboring no plasmid was employed as a control and degradation was evaluated in the same manner.

Similarly, phenol, ortho-cresol, meta-cresol and para-cresol were introduced into respective 27.5 ml vials each containing 10 ml of the cell suspension at a concentration of 50 ppm. Each vial was tightly sealed with a butyl rubber stopper and aluminum seal. The vials were shaken and incubated at 30° C. The quantities of the respective compounds in the liquid phase were determined by the aminoantipyrine method with a spectrophotometer to determine their concentrations after 6 hours. The results are shown in Table 9. E. coli HB101 harboring no plasmid was employed as a control and degradation was evaluated in the same manner.

The above results confirm that E. coli HB101 recombinants containing the toluene monooxygenase gene have an excellent ability to degrade the aromatic compounds and volatile halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds. It has been also shown that excellent degradation of the pollution compound can be achieved when TomK and TomLMNOP are expressed from different systems. It is shown that transformants harboring pSE380(tomLMNOP) plasmid express a lower degrading activity in a system not containing IPTG than those harboring pSE280(tomLMNOP) plasmid, since pSE380 contains lacIg.

EXAMPLE 11 Ability of E. coli HB101 Recombinants to Degrade Aromatic Compounds and Halogenated Aliphatic Hydrocarbon Compounds (With Induction With IPTG)(2)

Each E. coli HB101 transformant strain harboring combination of two plasmids obtained in Example 10 was inoculated in 100 ml of LB medium, cultured at 37° C. to reach OD₆₀₀ of about 0.8, and then IPTG was added to 1 mM concentration followed by further incubation at 37° C. for 5 hours. Then the cells were harvested, washed and suspended in an M9+mineral solution. 10 ml aliquots of the suspension were placed in 27.5 ml vials, and each vial was tightly sealed with a Teflon-coated butyl rubber stopper and aluminium seal. Then, gaseous trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (cis-1,2-DCE), trans-1,2-dichloroethylene (trans-1,2-DCE), 1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE), toluene, and benzene were added to respective vials with a syringe to a concentration of 50 ppm (supposing all of the introduced substance dissolved in the aqueous phase in the vial). The vials were shaken and incubated at 30° C. The concentrations of the respective compounds in the gas phase after 6 hour incubation were measured by gas chromatography. The results are shown in Table 10. E. coli HB101 harboring no plasmid was employed as a control and degradation was evaluated in the same manner.

Similarly, phenol, ortho-cresol, meta-cresol and para-cresol were introduced into respective 27.5 ml vials each containing 10 ml of the cell suspension, at a concentration of 50 ppm. Each vial was tightly sealed with a butyl rubber stopper and aluminum seal. The vials were shaken and incubated at 30° C. the quantities of the respective compounds in the liquid phase were determined by the amino antipyrine method with a spectrophotometer to determine their concentrations after 6 hours. The results are shown in Table 11. E. coli HB101 harboring no plasmid was employed as a control and degradation was evaluated in the same manner.

The above results confirm that E. coli HB101 recombinants containing the monooxygenase gene have an excellent ability to degrade the aromatic compounds and volatile halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds. It has been also shown that excellent degradation of the pollution compound can be achieved when TomK and TomLMNOP are expressed from different systems. It is shown that transformants harboring pSE380(tomLMNOP) plasmid express higher degrading activity in a system containing IPTG.

EXAMPLE 12 TCE Degradation by E. coli HB101(pK2-64) and HB101(pK3-64) Recombinants in Soil (Without IPTG Induction)

E. coli HB101(pK2-64) and HB101(pK3-64) recombinant strains as described in Example 6 were respectively inoculated in 10 ml of LB medium and cultured at 37° C. overnight. 50 g of Sawara sieved sand (unsterilized) was placed in 68 ml vials each. 5 ml of LB medium inoculated with the above seed culture to 100:1, was then added to the sand in each vial. Each vial was cotton-plugged, and incubated at 37° C. for 8 hours without shaking. After that, each vial was tightly sealed with a Teflon-coated butyl rubber stopper and aluminum seal. Gaseous TCE was introduced into the vials with a syringe to 50 ppm (supposing all TCE dissolved into the aqueous phase in the vial). The vials were incubated at 30° C. Quantitative analysis of TCE in the gas phase were carried out by gas chromatography after 6 hours to determine TCE concentrations. The results are shown in Table 12. E. coli HB101 harboring no plasmid was employed as a control and evaluated in the same manner.

The above results confirm that E. coli HB101 transformants harboring pK2-64 and pK3-64 also show an excellent TCE-degrading ability in soil. It is shown that transformant harboring pK3-64 (pSE380-based) expresses a lower degrading activity in a system not containing IPTG than that harboring pSE280-derived plasmid pK2-64, since the former contains lacIq.

EXAMPLE 13 TCE Degradation by E. coli Recombinants HB101(pK2-64) and HB101(pK3-64) in Soil (With IPTG Induction)

The cells of E. coli HB101(pK2-64) and HB101(pK3-64) recombinant strains as described in Example 6 were respectively inoculated in 10 ml of LB medium and cultured at 37° C. overnight. Fifty grams of Sawara sieved sand (unsterilized) were placed in 68 ml vials each. 5 ml of LB medium inoculated with the above seed culture to 100:1, was then added to the sand. Each vial was cotton-plugged, and incubated at 37° C. for 4 hours without shaking. Then 1 ml of a 10 mM IPTG solution was added to each vial. After that, each vial was tightly sealed with a Teflon-coated butyl rubber stopper and aluminum seal. Gaseous TCE was introduced into the vials with a syringe to 50 ppm (supposing all TCE dissolved into the aqueous phase in the vial). The vials were incubated at 30° C. Quantitative analysis of TCE in the gas phase were carried out by gas chromatography after 6 hours to determine TCE concentrations. The results are shown in Table 13. E. coli HB101 harboring no plasmid was employed as a control and evaluated in the same manner.

The above results confirm that E. coli recombinants HB101(pK2-64) and HB101(pK3-64) also show an excellent TCE-degrading ability in soil. It is shown that the recombinant harboring pK3-64 (pSE380-based) expresses higher degrading activity with IPTG induction.

EXAMPLE 14 TCE Degradation by Recombinants E. coli HB101(pK2-64) and HB101(pK3-64) in Gas Phase (Without IPTG Induction)

The cells of respective recombinant strains, E. coli HB101(pK2-64) and HB101(pK3-64) as described in Example 6, were inoculated in 100 ml of LB medium and cultured at 37° C. overnight. Aliquots (30 ml) of each seed culture were transferred into 68 ml vials, into which air which had passed through a saturation TCE solution was introduced at a flow rate of 20 ml/min for 10 minutes. Each vial was tightly sealed with a Teflon-coated butyl rubber stopper and aluminum seal, and shaking culture was conducted at 30° C. Quantitative analysis of TCE in the gas phase were carried out by gas chromatography to determine its concentration after 6 hours. The results are shown in Table 14. E. coli HB101 harboring no plasmid was employed as a control and degradation was evaluated in the same manner.

The above results confirm that recombinants E. coli HB101(pK2-64) and HB101(pK3-64) show an excellent TCE-degrading ability also in the gas phase. It is shown that the recombinant harboring pK3-64 (pSE380-based) expresses a lower degrading activity in a system not containing IPTG than that harboring pSE280-derived plasmid pK2-64, since the former contains lacIq.

EXAMPLE 15 TCE Degradation by Recombinants E. coli HB101(pK2-64) and HB101(pK3-64) in Gas Phase (With IPTG Induction)

E. coli (HB101) recombinant strains each harboring pK2-64 or pK3-64 as described in Example 6 were respectively inoculated into 100 ml of LB medium and cultured at 37° C. to reach OD₆₀₀ of about 0.8, and then IPTG was added to 1 mM concentration followed by further incubation at 37° C. for 5 hours. Aliquots (30 ml) of the cell suspension were transferred into 68 ml vials, into which air which had passed through in a saturated TCE solution was introduced at a flow rate of 20 ml/min for 10 minutes. Each vial was tightly sealed with a Teflon-coated butyl rubber stopper and aluminum seal, and shaking culture was conducted at 30° C. Quantitative analysis of TCE in the gas phase were carried out by gas chromatography to determine its concentration after 6 hours. The results are shown in Table 15. E. coli HB101 harboring no plasmid was employed as a control and degradation was evaluated in the same manner.

The above results confirm that recombinants E. coli HB101(pK2-64) and HB101(pK3-64) show an excellent TCE-degrading ability also in the gas phase, and it is shown that the recombinant harboring pK3-64 (pSE380-based) expresses higher degrading activity with IPTG induction.

EXAMPLE 16 Introduction of Recombinant Plasmid Containing Toluene Monooxygenase Gene into Alcaliqenes sp. Strain TL2 (FERM BP-6913)

The toluene monooxygenase gene beginning from the first ATG of tomK (base number 200-202) was transferred from a recombinant plasmid pK2-64 of Example 6 (recombinant pSE280 containing the gene) into a vector pBBR122 (Mo Bi Tec) having a wide host range replication region not belonging to an incompatible group of IncP, IncQ, and IncW. This recombinant plasmid was introduced in Alcaligenes sp. strain TL2 (FERM BP-6913), and its ability to degrade aromatic compounds and halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds was evaluated.

First, a wide host range recombinant plasmid was constructed. An about 6.8-kb fragment containing the toluene monooxygenase gene, a trc promoter, and a rrnB terminator was cut out from pK2-64 by complete digestion by the restriction enzyme HpaI (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) followed by partial digestion by ScaI (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.). This fragment of 6.8 kb does not contain the lacIq sequence. As a vector of a wide host range, pBBR122 was employed. pBBR122 was completely digested with the restriction enzyme SmaI (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.). The 6.8 kb fragment containing the toluene monooxygenase gene, a trc promoter, and an rrnB terminator prepared as described above was ligated to the SmaI restriction site of the pBBR122 using DNA Ligation Kit Ver. 2 (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.) and the recombinant plasmid thus constructed was introduced into E. coli HB101(Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.). The cells of the E. coli thus treated were applied on LB plate containing 50 μg/ml of chloramphenicol as a selection agent. When the colonies on the plate grew to an appropriate size, the colonies were transferred by replica printing onto an LB plate containing 50 μg/ml of kanamycin as a selection agent. Transformants that could proliferate on the plate with chloramphenicol but not on the plate with kanamycin were selected, and cultured in LB medium at 37° C. overnight, to extract plasmid DNA from the cells by the alkaline method. After checking the plasmids, transformants harboring a recombinant plasmid where the 6.8 kb fragment was correctly inserted into the SmaI site of the pBBR122 were obtained. The recombinant plasmid thus obtained was about 12.1 kb in length and designated as pK2-64bbr.

The SOB medium shown below was employed for liquid culture of Alcaligenes sp. strain TL2. Chloramphenicol was used at a concentration of 50 μg/ml as a selection agent and the culture temperature was 30° C. The recombinant plasmid pK2-64 was introduced into Alcaligenes sp. strain TL2 cells by electroporation using a gene pulsar (Bio-Rad). The recombinant plasmid pK2-64bbr was stably retained after introduction into Alcaligenes sp. strain TL2.

SOB medium:

Tryptone: 20 g

Yeast extract: 5 g

NaCl: 0.5 g

250 mM KC1: 10 ml

Distilled water (to 990 ml)

pH 7.0

The above solution was sterilized by autoclaving and cooled to room temperature, to which 10 ml of a 2 M magnesium solution (1 M MgSO_(4.7)H₂O+1 M MgCl_(2.6)H₂O) separately sterilized by autoclaving was added.

EXAMPLE 17 Ability of Alcaligenes sp. TL2(pK2-64bbr) to Degrade Aromatic Compounds and Halogenated Aliphatic Hydrocarbon Compounds

The cells of Alcaligenes sp. TL2(pK2-64bbr) were inoculated in 100 ml of SOB medium, cultured at 30° C. overnight, harvested, washed, and then suspended in 100 ml of M9 (containing 6.2 g of Na₂HPO₄, 3.0 g of KH₂PO₄, 0.5 g of NaCl, and 1.0 g of NH₄Cl per liter) supplemented with a mineral stock solution (3 ml to 1 liter of M9 medium).

10 ml of the suspension was placed in respective 27.5 ml vials and each vial was tightly sealed with a Teflon-coated butyl rubber stopper and aluminum seal. Then, gaseous trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (cis-1,2-DCE), trans-1,2-dichloroethylene (trans-1,2-DCE), 1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE), toluene, and benzene were added to respective vials with a syringe to a concentration of 50 ppm (supposing all of the introduced substance dissolved in the aqueous phase in the vial). The vials were shaken and incubated at 30° C. The concentrations of the respective compounds in the gas phase after 6 hour incubation were measured by gas chromatography. The results are shown in Table 16. Alcaligenes sp. TL2 not containing pK2-64bbr was tested as a control and degradation was evaluated in the same manner.

Similarly, to 10 ml of the prepared cell suspension in a 27.5-ml vial, phenol, ortho-cresol, meta-cresol, and para-cresol were added to 50 ppm, respectively. The vial was tightly sealed with a butyl rubber stopper and aluminum seal, and then shaken and incubated at 30° C. The quantities of the respective compounds in the liquid phase were measured by the aminoantipyrine method with a spectrophotometer to obtain their concentrations after 6 hours. The results are shown in Table 17. Alcaligenes sp. strain TL2 not containing pK2-64bbr was employed as a control and degradation was evaluated in a similar system.

The above results show that the recombinant Alcaligenes sp. strain TL2 harboring pK2-64bbr can constitutively express the ability to degrade aromatic compounds and halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds.

EXAMPLE 18 Degradation of TCE by Recombinant Alcaligenes sp. TL2(pK2-64bbr) in Soil

Recombinant Alcaligenes sp. TL2(pK2-64bbr) as described in Example 16 was inoculated in 10 ml of SOB medium and cultured at 30° C. overnight. Fifty grams of Sawara sieved sand (unsterilized) was placed in each 68 ml vial. Five milliliter of SOB medium inoculated with the above seed culture to 100:1 was then added to the sand in each vial. Each vial was cotton-plugged and incubated at 30° C. for 12 hours without shaking. After that, each vial was tightly sealed with a Teflon-coated butyl rubber stopper and aluminum seal. Gaseous TCE was introduced into the vials with a syringe to 50 ppm (supposing all TCE dissolved into the aqueous phase in the vial). The vials were incubated at 30° C. Quantitative analysis of TCE in the gas phase were carried out by gas chromatography after 6 hours to determine TCE concentrations. The results are shown in Table 18. Alcaligenes sp. TL2(pBBR122) was tested as a control and degradation was evaluated in the same manner.

The above results show that the recombinant Alcaligenes sp. TL2(pK2-64bbr) can constitutively express the ability to degrade TCE also in soil.

EXAMPLE 19 Degradation of TCE by Recombinant Alcaligenes sp. TL2(pK2-64bbr) in Gas Phase

The cells of recombinant Alcaliqenes sp. TL2(pK2-64bbr) as described in Example 16 were inoculated in 100 ml of SOB medium and cultured at 30° C. overnight. Aliquots (30 ml) of the seed culture were transferred into 68 ml vials, into which air which had passed through a saturation TCE solution was introduced at a flow rate of 20 ml/min for 10 minutes. Each vial was tightly sealed with a Teflon-coated butyl rubber stopper and aluminum seal, and shaking culture was conducted at 30° C. Quantitative analysis of TCE in the gas phase were carried out by gas chromatography to determine its concentration after 6 hours. The results are shown in Table 19. Alcaligenes sp. TL2 not harboring pBBR122 was employed as a control and degradation was evaluated in the same manner.

The above results show that the recombinant Alcaligenes sp. TL2(pK2-64bbr) can constitutively express the ability to degrade TCE also in the gas phase.

According to the present invention, a DNA fragment carrying a toluene monooxygenase gene with an excellent ability to degrade aromatic compounds and halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds can be obtained. In addition, a novel recombinant plasmid containing the DNA fragment as a whole or a part thereof that can be utilized to obtain a transformant capable of degrading aromatic compounds and/or halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds can be obtained. Further, a transformant harboring the plasmid and can be utilized to degrade aromatic compounds and/or halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds can be obtained. Furthermore, a method for environmental remediation that can efficiently degrade either aromatic compounds and/or halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds by utilizing the transformant.

TABLE 1 E. coliHB101(pTB64) HB101(pUC18) TCE 0 25.0 cis-1,2-DCE 0 26.0 trans-1,2-DCE 0 25.0 1,1-DCE 0 24.8 Toluene 0 27.1 Benzene 0 24.1 (Unit: ppm)

TABLE 2 E. coli E. coli HB101(pTB64) HB101(pUC18) Phenol 0 49 Ortho-cresol 0 53 Meta-cresol 0 51 Para-cresol 0 49 (Unit: ppm)

TABLE 3 tom-K tom-L pSE280 pK2-64 pL2-64 pSE380 pK3-64 pL3-64

TABLE 4 pK2-64 pL2-64 pK3-64 pL3-64 HB101 TCE 0 42.1 47.3 49.7 52.1 cis-1,2-DCE 0 37.3 46.7 52.1 51.2 trans-1,2-DCE 0 39.2 47.2 52.0 55.2 1,1-DCE 0 50.2 52.3 52.8 49.9 Toluene 0 36.7 40.8 48.7 52.5 Benzene 0 44.7 42.5 49.0 50.9 (Unit: ppm)

TABLE 5 pK2-64 pL2-64 pK3-64 pL3-64 HB101 Phenol 0 0 0 0 48.1 Orthocresol 0 0 0 0 53.1 Methacresol 0 2.1 7.9 16.0 52.5 Paracresol 0 7.5 15.2 21.2 53.2 (Unit: ppm)

TABLE 6 pK2-64 pL2-64 pK3-64 pL3-64 HB101 TCE 0 0 0 0 48.8 cis-1,2-DCE 0 0 0 0 54.1 trans-1,2-DCE 0 0 0 0 52.5 1,1-DCE 0 10.2 0 8.3 52.2 Toluene 0 0 0 0 49.8 Benzene 0 0 0 0 51.0 (Unit: ppm)

TABLE 7 pK2-64 pL2-64 pK3-64 pL3-64 HB101 Phenol 0 0 0 0 49.9 Orthccresol 0 0 0 0 50.2 Methacresol 0 0 0 0 50.9 Paracresol 0 1.8 0 5.2 48.0 (Unit: ppm)

TABLE 8 pL2-64 + pKS-64 pL3-64 + PKS-64 HB101 TCE 0 42.2 53.5 cis-1,2-DCE 0 46.1 51.1 trans-1,2-DCE 0 45.5 49.8 1,1-DCE 0 49.8 51.1 Toluene 0 38.3 50.2 Benzene 0 42.1 51.1 Unit: ppm

TABLE 9 pL2-64 + pKS-64 pL3-64 + pKS-64 HB101 Phenol 0 0 50.0 Orthocresol 0 0 52.9 Methacresol 0 12.8 49.0 Paracresol 0 19.8 50.9 Unit: ppm

TABLE 10 pL2-64 + pKS-64 pL3-64 + pKS-64 HB101 TCE 0 0 50.5 cis-1,2-DCE 0 0 47.9 trans-1,2- 0 0 48.9 DCE 1,1-DCE 0 0 49.2 Toluene 0 0 47.9 Benzene 0 0 52.0 Unit: ppm

TABLE 11 pL2-64 + pKS-64 pL3-64 + pKS-64 HB101 Phenol 0 0 52.7 Orthocresol 0 0 50.1 Methacresol 0 0 50.3 Paracresol 0 0 51.3 Unit: ppm

TABLE 12 pK2-64 pK3-64 HB101 TCE 0 38.2 48.1 Unit: ppm

TABLE 13 pK2-64 pK3-64 HB101 TCE 0 0 48.0 Unit: ppm

TABLE 14 pK2-64 pK3-64 HB101 TCE 0 37.2 55.0 Unit: ppm

TABLE 15 pK2-64 pK3-64 HB101 TCE 0 0 52.9 Unit: ppm

TABLE 16 TL2(pK2-64bbr) TL2 TCE 0 52.2 cis-1,2-DCE 0 47.2 trans-1,2-DCE 0 52.0 1-1,DCE 0 55.2 Toluene 0 47.6 Benzene 0 50.0 Unit: ppm

TABLE 17 TL2(pK2-64bbr) TL2 Phenol 0 50.8 Ortho-cresol 0 54.4 Meta-cresol 0 52.1 Para-cresol 0 52.0 Unit: ppm

TABLE 18 TL2(pK2-64bbr) TL2 TCE 0 49.9 Unit: ppm

TABLE 19 TL2(pK2-64bbr) TL2(pBBR122) TCE 0 51.3 Unit: ppm

14 1 5331 DNA Ralstonia eutropha CDS (200)..(445) tomK 1 gatcaacgat ttgaagcgtc cgcataagag cggtaccaag tccgggagcg tgctgggtaa 60 ccaagcattt tgcaggcgcg caagccaact tcgactcagt attttccctg aaatatcgag 120 atttccgggc catgggctgg caccgctggc acgcccgctg caatgaaagg ggcacggagg 180 cgacatcgac ccattgact atg acc ctg cag acc cca gcc aac caa gca tcc 232 Met Thr Leu Gln Thr Pro Ala Asn Gln Ala Ser 1 5 10 gat ccc tgc cgc aag ttc gtc cgg gtc acc ggc ctc aac ccg cgc gga 280 Asp Pro Cys Arg Lys Phe Val Arg Val Thr Gly Leu Asn Pro Arg Gly 15 20 25 ttc gtc gaa ttc gag ttc gcg atc ggc ggg ccg gag atg ttc gtc gaa 328 Phe Val Glu Phe Glu Phe Ala Ile Gly Gly Pro Glu Met Phe Val Glu 30 35 40 ctg acc ctg ccc ata gac gca ttc gac gcg ttc tgc acc acg cag aac 376 Leu Thr Leu Pro Ile Asp Ala Phe Asp Ala Phe Cys Thr Thr Gln Asn 45 50 55 gtc gtc cgg ctg gat gac tcc ggc agc gac ttc cac cgc gac ccc acg 424 Val Val Arg Leu Asp Asp Ser Gly Ser Asp Phe His Arg Asp Pro Thr 60 65 70 75 acc ctc agg agc aac ccg tga gtg aca atc gag ctg aaa acc gtc gac 472 Thr Leu Arg Ser Asn Pro Met Thr Ile Glu Leu Lys Thr Val Asp 80 85 90 atc aag ccg cta cgg cag acc tac gcg cat gtg gcg cgg cat atc ggt 520 Ile Lys Pro Leu Arg Gln Thr Tyr Ala His Val Ala Arg His Ile Gly 95 100 105 ggc gac aag acg gcc tcg cgc tac cag gaa ggc atg atg ggc gcg cag 568 Gly Asp Lys Thr Ala Ser Arg Tyr Gln Glu Gly Met Met Gly Ala Gln 110 115 120 ccc gag acc aac ttc cac tat cgc cca acc tgg gat ccg gcg cac caa 616 Pro Glu Thr Asn Phe His Tyr Arg Pro Thr Trp Asp Pro Ala His Gln 125 130 135 atc ttc gac gcc tcg cgc tcg gcg atc cgc atg gcg agc tgg tac gtg 664 Ile Phe Asp Ala Ser Arg Ser Ala Ile Arg Met Ala Ser Trp Tyr Val 140 145 150 155 ctg aag gac ccg cgc cag tac tac tac gcc tcg tgg acc acg gcc cgc 712 Leu Lys Asp Pro Arg Gln Tyr Tyr Tyr Ala Ser Trp Thr Thr Ala Arg 160 165 170 gcg cgc cag cag gac acg atg gaa tcg aac ttc gag ttc gtc gaa tcg 760 Ala Arg Gln Gln Asp Thr Met Glu Ser Asn Phe Glu Phe Val Glu Ser 175 180 185 cgc cgg atg atc gac cgg atg ccg gcg gag gtg gcc aaa cac gcg ctc 808 Arg Arg Met Ile Asp Arg Met Pro Ala Glu Val Ala Lys His Ala Leu 190 195 200 gac ctt ctg gta ccg ctg cgc cac gcc gca tgg ggc gcg aac atg aac 856 Asp Leu Leu Val Pro Leu Arg His Ala Ala Trp Gly Ala Asn Met Asn 205 210 215 aac gcg cag gtc tgc gca ctg ggt tac ggc acc gcc ttc acc gcg gcg 904 Asn Ala Gln Val Cys Ala Leu Gly Tyr Gly Thr Ala Phe Thr Ala Ala 220 225 230 235 gcg atg ttc cac gcg atg gac aac ctc ggc gtt gcg caa tac ctg acg 952 Ala Met Phe His Ala Met Asp Asn Leu Gly Val Ala Gln Tyr Leu Thr 240 245 250 cgc ctg gcg ctc gca gtg gcc ggc ccg gag gtg ctc gac gcg ggc cgg 1000 Arg Leu Ala Leu Ala Val Ala Gly Pro Glu Val Leu Asp Ala Gly Arg 255 260 265 cac gcc tgg ctc gaa cat ccg gcg tgg cag ccg ctg cgc cac tac atc 1048 His Ala Trp Leu Glu His Pro Ala Trp Gln Pro Leu Arg His Tyr Ile 270 275 280 gag gac acc ttc gtc gtc gac gac ccg gtc gaa ctg ttc gtc gcc cag 1096 Glu Asp Thr Phe Val Val Asp Asp Pro Val Glu Leu Phe Val Ala Gln 285 290 295 aac ctg gcg ctt gac ggc atg ctt tac ccg ctg gtc tac gac cgc ttt 1144 Asn Leu Ala Leu Asp Gly Met Leu Tyr Pro Leu Val Tyr Asp Arg Phe 300 305 310 315 gtc gac gaa cgg atc gcc ctg ggc ggc ggc tcc gcg atc gcg atg ctg 1192 Val Asp Glu Arg Ile Ala Leu Gly Gly Gly Ser Ala Ile Ala Met Leu 320 325 330 acg gcc ttc atg ccc gag tgg cac gag gag tcg aaa cgc tgg gtc gat 1240 Thr Ala Phe Met Pro Glu Trp His Glu Glu Ser Lys Arg Trp Val Asp 335 340 345 gcc gtg gtg aag acg atg gcg gcc gag tcc gaa gag aac aag gcg ctg 1288 Ala Val Val Lys Thr Met Ala Ala Glu Ser Glu Glu Asn Lys Ala Leu 350 355 360 ctg gcg cac tgg acc cgc gac tgg gcc ggg cgt gcg ttt gcc gcg ctg 1336 Leu Ala His Trp Thr Arg Asp Trp Ala Gly Arg Ala Phe Ala Ala Leu 365 370 375 cag ccg gtc gca gag ctg gcc ttc ccg acc cat gcg ccc gaa gtg ctc 1384 Gln Pro Val Ala Glu Leu Ala Phe Pro Thr His Ala Pro Glu Val Leu 380 385 390 395 gac gcg gtg cgc gag cag ttc cag acc cgg att tcg aaa ctc ggc atc 1432 Asp Ala Val Arg Glu Gln Phe Gln Thr Arg Ile Ser Lys Leu Gly Ile 400 405 410 gcg ctc tga tcccgcccct cactcgctct gaaggaaaac ac atg tcc aac gta 1485 Ala Leu Met Ser Asn Val 415 ttc atc gcc ttc cag gcc aac gag gag tcc cgt ccg gtg gtc gag gcc 1533 Phe Ile Ala Phe Gln Ala Asn Glu Glu Ser Arg Pro Val Val Glu Ala 420 425 430 atc ctc gcc gac aac ccg gac gcg gtg ctg gtc gag tcc ccg gga atg 1581 Ile Leu Ala Asp Asn Pro Asp Ala Val Leu Val Glu Ser Pro Gly Met 435 440 445 450 gtc aag atc gac gcg ccg agc cac ctg acc atc cgc cgc cag act ata 1629 Val Lys Ile Asp Ala Pro Ser His Leu Thr Ile Arg Arg Gln Thr Ile 455 460 465 gag gaa ctg acc ggc acg cgc ttc gac ctg cag cag atc cac gtc aac 1677 Glu Glu Leu Thr Gly Thr Arg Phe Asp Leu Gln Gln Ile His Val Asn 470 475 480 ctg atc acg ctg tcc ggc cat att gaa gaa gac gac gac gcc ttc acg 1725 Leu Ile Thr Leu Ser Gly His Ile Glu Glu Asp Asp Asp Ala Phe Thr 485 490 495 ctg agc tgg aag cac tga acggcctgcg cgcccccata acaaaggaga caccaat 1780 Leu Ser Trp Lys His 500 atg gaa acc ccg acg cag aag aag aag ctc ggc ctg aag gaa cgc tac 1828 Met Glu Thr Pro Thr Gln Lys Lys Lys Leu Gly Leu Lys Glu Arg Tyr 505 510 515 520 gcc gcc atg acc cgc ggc ctg ggc tgg gac acc acc tac cag ccg atg 1876 Ala Ala Met Thr Arg Gly Leu Gly Trp Asp Thr Thr Tyr Gln Pro Met 525 530 535 gac aag gtt ttc ccc tac gac cgc tat gag ggc atc aag atc cac gac 1924 Asp Lys Val Phe Pro Tyr Asp Arg Tyr Glu Gly Ile Lys Ile His Asp 540 545 550 tgg gac aag tgg gtc gac ccg ttc cgc ctg acc atg gac gcg tac tgg 1972 Trp Asp Lys Trp Val Asp Pro Phe Arg Leu Thr Met Asp Ala Tyr Trp 555 560 565 aag tac cag ggc gaa aag gag aag aag ctc tac gcc gtg atc gac gcc 2020 Lys Tyr Gln Gly Glu Lys Glu Lys Lys Leu Tyr Ala Val Ile Asp Ala 570 575 580 ttc acg cag aac aac gcc ttt ctc ggc gtg acc gac gcg cgc tac atc 2068 Phe Thr Gln Asn Asn Ala Phe Leu Gly Val Thr Asp Ala Arg Tyr Ile 585 590 595 600 aat gcg ctc aag ctg ttc gtg cag ggc gtg acg ccg ctg gaa tac ctg 2116 Asn Ala Leu Lys Leu Phe Val Gln Gly Val Thr Pro Leu Glu Tyr Leu 605 610 615 gcc cat cgc ggc ttc gcc cac gtc ggc cgc cac ttt acc ggc gag ggc 2164 Ala His Arg Gly Phe Ala His Val Gly Arg His Phe Thr Gly Glu Gly 620 625 630 gcg cgc gtg gcc tgc cag atg cag tcg atc gac gag ctg cgc cac tac 2212 Ala Arg Val Ala Cys Gln Met Gln Ser Ile Asp Glu Leu Arg His Tyr 635 640 645 cag acc gag acc cac gcg ctc tcc acc tac aac aag ttc ttc aac ggc 2260 Gln Thr Glu Thr His Ala Leu Ser Thr Tyr Asn Lys Phe Phe Asn Gly 650 655 660 ctg cat cac tcc aac cac tgg ttc gac cgt gtc tgg tac ctg tcg gtg 2308 Leu His His Ser Asn His Trp Phe Asp Arg Val Trp Tyr Leu Ser Val 665 670 675 680 ccg aag tcc ttc ttc gag gac gcc tac tcg gcc ggg ccg ttc gag ttc 2356 Pro Lys Ser Phe Phe Glu Asp Ala Tyr Ser Ala Gly Pro Phe Glu Phe 685 690 695 ctg acc gcg gtc agc ttt tcg ttc gag tac gtg ctg acc aac ctg ctg 2404 Leu Thr Ala Val Ser Phe Ser Phe Glu Tyr Val Leu Thr Asn Leu Leu 700 705 710 ttc gtg ccg ttc atg tcg ggc gcc gcc tac aac ggc gac atg tcg acc 2452 Phe Val Pro Phe Met Ser Gly Ala Ala Tyr Asn Gly Asp Met Ser Thr 715 720 725 gtg acc ttc ggc ttc tcg gct cag tcc gac gaa tcc cgc cac atg acg 2500 Val Thr Phe Gly Phe Ser Ala Gln Ser Asp Glu Ser Arg His Met Thr 730 735 740 ctg ggc atc gag tgc atc aag ttc ctc ctc gaa cag gat ccc gac aat 2548 Leu Gly Ile Glu Cys Ile Lys Phe Leu Leu Glu Gln Asp Pro Asp Asn 745 750 755 760 gtg ccc atc gtg cag cgc tgg atc gac aag tgg ttc tgg cgc ggc tac 2596 Val Pro Ile Val Gln Arg Trp Ile Asp Lys Trp Phe Trp Arg Gly Tyr 765 770 775 cgg ctg ctg acg ctg gtg gcg atg atg atg gac tac atg cag ccc aag 2644 Arg Leu Leu Thr Leu Val Ala Met Met Met Asp Tyr Met Gln Pro Lys 780 785 790 cgc gtg atg agc tgg cgc gag gcg tgg gag atg tac gcc gag cag aac 2692 Arg Val Met Ser Trp Arg Glu Ala Trp Glu Met Tyr Ala Glu Gln Asn 795 800 805 ggc ggc gcg cta ttc aag gac ctg gcc cgc tac ggc atc cgc gag ccc 2740 Gly Gly Ala Leu Phe Lys Asp Leu Ala Arg Tyr Gly Ile Arg Glu Pro 810 815 820 aag ggc tgg cag gac gcc tgc gaa ggc aag gat cac atc agc cac cag 2788 Lys Gly Trp Gln Asp Ala Cys Glu Gly Lys Asp His Ile Ser His Gln 825 830 835 840 gcc tgg gcg acc ttc tac ggc ttc aac gcg gcc gcc ccg ttc cat acc 2836 Ala Trp Ala Thr Phe Tyr Gly Phe Asn Ala Ala Ala Pro Phe His Thr 845 850 855 tgg gtg ccg cag cag gac gag atg gcc tgg ctg tcc gcc aag tac ccg 2884 Trp Val Pro Gln Gln Asp Glu Met Ala Trp Leu Ser Ala Lys Tyr Pro 860 865 870 gag acg ttc gac cag cac tac cgt ccg cgc ctg gag cac tgg gac gag 2932 Glu Thr Phe Asp Gln His Tyr Arg Pro Arg Leu Glu His Trp Asp Glu 875 880 885 cag gcc aag gcc ggc aac cgg ttc tac atg aag acg ctg ccg atg ctg 2980 Gln Ala Lys Ala Gly Asn Arg Phe Tyr Met Lys Thr Leu Pro Met Leu 890 895 900 tgc cag acc tgc cag atc ccg atg ctg ttc acc gag ccg ggc gac ccc 3028 Cys Gln Thr Cys Gln Ile Pro Met Leu Phe Thr Glu Pro Gly Asp Pro 905 910 915 920 acc agg ctc tgc gcg cgc gaa tcg aat tac ttc ggc aac aag ttc cac 3076 Thr Arg Leu Cys Ala Arg Glu Ser Asn Tyr Phe Gly Asn Lys Phe His 925 930 935 ttc tgc agt gac cac tgc aag gag atc ttt gac cac gag ccg gag aag 3124 Phe Cys Ser Asp His Cys Lys Glu Ile Phe Asp His Glu Pro Glu Lys 940 945 950 tac gtg caa gcg tgg ctg ccc gtg cac cag atc tac cag ggc aac tgc 3172 Tyr Val Gln Ala Trp Leu Pro Val His Gln Ile Tyr Gln Gly Asn Cys 955 960 965 ttc aag ccg ggc gtg gat ccg agc gcc gaa ggt ttc gat ccg ctg gct 3220 Phe Lys Pro Gly Val Asp Pro Ser Ala Glu Gly Phe Asp Pro Leu Ala 970 975 980 gcc gtg ctc gac tac tac gag gtg gag ccc cgc gac acg atg gat ttc 3268 Ala Val Leu Asp Tyr Tyr Glu Val Glu Pro Arg Asp Thr Met Asp Phe 985 990 995 1000 gaa ggc tcc gaa gac cag aag aac ttt gcg gcg tgg cgc ggc cag gcc 3316 Glu Gly Ser Glu Asp Gln Lys Asn Phe Ala Ala Trp Arg Gly Gln Ala 1005 1010 1015 acc agc aac tga ccggcaggag acagcc atg acc gtc aat gcg ctc aag ccc 3368 Thr Ser Asn Met Thr Val Asn Ala Leu Lys Pro 1020 1025 tac gat ttc ccg ctg atg gac acg gtg gag aag ttc ccc gcg ccg ctg 3416 Tyr Asp Phe Pro Leu Met Asp Thr Val Glu Lys Phe Pro Ala Pro Leu 1030 1035 1040 ctg tat gtg aac tgg gag aac cac ctg atg ttc ccg gca ccg ttc tgc 3464 Leu Tyr Val Asn Trp Glu Asn His Leu Met Phe Pro Ala Pro Phe Cys 1045 1050 1055 1060 ctg ccg ctg ccg ccc gag acg ccg ttc agc gcg ctc gcc gaa cag atc 3512 Leu Pro Leu Pro Pro Glu Thr Pro Phe Ser Ala Leu Ala Glu Gln Ile 1065 1070 1075 ctg cca ccc gtc tac ggc tac cac ccg gac ttt gcc cgc atc gac tgg 3560 Leu Pro Pro Val Tyr Gly Tyr His Pro Asp Phe Ala Arg Ile Asp Trp 1080 1085 1090 aag cgc gtg cag tgg ttt cgc tcc ggc caa ccc tgg aca ccg gac acg 3608 Lys Arg Val Gln Trp Phe Arg Ser Gly Gln Pro Trp Thr Pro Asp Thr 1095 1100 1105 tcg aag agc ctc ggc gag aac ggg ctg ggg cac aag gac ctg atc agt 3656 Ser Lys Ser Leu Gly Glu Asn Gly Leu Gly His Lys Asp Leu Ile Ser 1110 1115 1120 ttc cgc acg ccg ggg ctg gat ggc atc ggc ggg gca tcg atc tga 3701 Phe Arg Thr Pro Gly Leu Asp Gly Ile Gly Gly Ala Ser Ile 1125 1130 1135 gcgcccggcc ggtgctccag caatgacaag gtatccatc atg agc cac caa ctt 3755 Met Ser His Gln Leu 1140 acc atc gag ccg ctc ggc gcg acg atc gag gtc gag gaa ggg cag acc 3803 Thr Ile Glu Pro Leu Gly Ala Thr Ile Glu Val Glu Glu Gly Gln Thr 1145 1150 1155 1160 att ctc gat gcg gcg ctg cgc caa ggc atc tat atc ccg cat gcc tgt 3851 Ile Leu Asp Ala Ala Leu Arg Gln Gly Ile Tyr Ile Pro His Ala Cys 1165 1170 1175 tgc cac ggc ctg tgc ggg acc tgc aag gtc tcg gtc ctc gac ggc gag 3899 Cys His Gly Leu Cys Gly Thr Cys Lys Val Ser Val Leu Asp Gly Glu 1180 1185 1190 gcc gac ctg ggc gag gcc aac ccg ttc gcg ttg atg gat ttc gag cgc 3947 Ala Asp Leu Gly Glu Ala Asn Pro Phe Ala Leu Met Asp Phe Glu Arg 1195 1200 1205 gag gag ggc aag gcg ctg gcg tgc tgc gcg acg ctg cag gcc gat acc 3995 Glu Glu Gly Lys Ala Leu Ala Cys Cys Ala Thr Leu Gln Ala Asp Thr 1210 1215 1220 acc atc gag gcc gat gtc gac aag gac ccg gac ggc gag att atc ccg 4043 Thr Ile Glu Ala Asp Val Asp Lys Asp Pro Asp Gly Glu Ile Ile Pro 1225 1230 1235 1240 gtg cgg gat ttc gag gcc gac gtg atg tgc atc gac cag ctc acc ccg 4091 Val Arg Asp Phe Glu Ala Asp Val Met Cys Ile Asp Gln Leu Thr Pro 1245 1250 1255 acc atc aag gcg atc cgc ctg cgg ctc gcg gag ccg atg cgt ttc cag 4139 Thr Ile Lys Ala Ile Arg Leu Arg Leu Ala Glu Pro Met Arg Phe Gln 1260 1265 1270 gcg ggc cag tac gtc cag ttc gag atc ccg ggc ctg ggc cag acc cgc 4187 Ala Gly Gln Tyr Val Gln Phe Glu Ile Pro Gly Leu Gly Gln Thr Arg 1275 1280 1285 gct ttc tcg atc gcc aac gcg ccg gcg gac gtc gcc gcg acc ggc gag 4235 Ala Phe Ser Ile Ala Asn Ala Pro Ala Asp Val Ala Ala Thr Gly Glu 1290 1295 1300 atc gag ctg aac gtg cgg cag gtg ccg ggc ggc ctt ggc acc ggc tac 4283 Ile Glu Leu Asn Val Arg Gln Val Pro Gly Gly Leu Gly Thr Gly Tyr 1305 1310 1315 1320 ctg cac gag cag ctc gcc gcc ggg gat cgc gtg cgc ttg tcc gga ccc 4331 Leu His Glu Gln Leu Ala Ala Gly Asp Arg Val Arg Leu Ser Gly Pro 1325 1330 1335 tat ggc cgc ttc ttc gtg cgc cgc tcg gcc ggc ctg ccg atg atc ttc 4379 Tyr Gly Arg Phe Phe Val Arg Arg Ser Ala Gly Leu Pro Met Ile Phe 1340 1345 1350 atg gcg ggc ggc tcg ggg ctg tcg agc ccg cgc tcc atg atc tgc gac 4427 Met Ala Gly Gly Ser Gly Leu Ser Ser Pro Arg Ser Met Ile Cys Asp 1355 1360 1365 ctg ctg gaa ggc ggc gtc acc gcg ccg att acg ctg gtc tac ggc cag 4475 Leu Leu Glu Gly Gly Val Thr Ala Pro Ile Thr Leu Val Tyr Gly Gln 1370 1375 1380 cgc aac gcg aag gag ctg tac tac cac gac gag ttc cgc gcg ctg agc 4523 Arg Asn Ala Lys Glu Leu Tyr Tyr His Asp Glu Phe Arg Ala Leu Ser 1385 1390 1395 1400 gag cgc tat ccc aac ttc acc tac gtg ccg gcg ctg tcg gag ggg gcg 4571 Glu Arg Tyr Pro Asn Phe Thr Tyr Val Pro Ala Leu Ser Glu Gly Ala 1405 1410 1415 ggg gac ggc gag gtc gcg cag ggc ttc gtc cac gac gtc gcc aag gcg 4619 Gly Asp Gly Glu Val Ala Gln Gly Phe Val His Asp Val Ala Lys Ala 1420 1425 1430 cac ttc gac aat gac ttc tcg ggc cac cag gct tac ctg tgc gga ccg 4667 His Phe Asp Asn Asp Phe Ser Gly His Gln Ala Tyr Leu Cys Gly Pro 1435 1440 1445 ccc gcg atg atc gac gcc tgc atc acg gcg ctg atg cag ggc cgg ctg 4715 Pro Ala Met Ile Asp Ala Cys Ile Thr Ala Leu Met Gln Gly Arg Leu 1450 1455 1460 ttc gag cgc gac atc tac cac gag aag ttc att tcg gcg gcg gat gcg 4763 Phe Glu Arg Asp Ile Tyr His Glu Lys Phe Ile Ser Ala Ala Asp Ala 1465 1470 1475 1480 cag cag acc cgc agc ccg ctg ttt cgc aag gtg tga c gtg gac acg tgc 4812 Gln Gln Thr Arg Ser Pro Leu Phe Arg Lys Val Met Asp Thr Cys 1485 1490 1495 atc aag gcc acg gtg cgg gtc gcg cag acg ggt gag tcc ttc tcg tgc 4860 Ile Lys Ala Thr Val Arg Val Ala Gln Thr Gly Glu Ser Phe Ser Cys 1500 1505 1510 acc gcc ggc gaa tcg ctg ctc gcc ggc atg gca aag ctg ggc cgg cgc 4908 Thr Ala Gly Glu Ser Leu Leu Ala Gly Met Ala Lys Leu Gly Arg Arg 1515 1520 1525 ggc att ccg gtc ggc tgc ctg aac ggc ggc tgc ggg gtc tgc aag gtg 4956 Gly Ile Pro Val Gly Cys Leu Asn Gly Gly Cys Gly Val Cys Lys Val 1530 1535 1540 cgg gtg ctg agc ggc gac gtg cgc aag ctg ggc ccg gtc agc cgc gcg 5004 Arg Val Leu Ser Gly Asp Val Arg Lys Leu Gly Pro Val Ser Arg Ala 1545 1550 1555 1560 cat gtc agc gct gac gaa gag ggg ctg ggc tac acg ctg gcc tgc cgc 5052 His Val Ser Ala Asp Glu Glu Gly Leu Gly Tyr Thr Leu Ala Cys Arg 1565 1570 1575 gtg gcg ccg cag ggc gac gtc gag ctg gag gtg gcc ggg aag atg cag 5100 Val Ala Pro Gln Gly Asp Val Glu Leu Glu Val Ala Gly Lys Met Gln 1580 1585 1590 aag ccg ttc ctc tgc tgc gcc cag gcc agg aag taa aggcagcaag 5146 Lys Pro Phe Leu Cys Cys Ala Gln Ala Arg Lys 1595 1600 aaaacatcaa caggagacac atcatgggtg tgatgcggat aggccatgcc aacctgaagg 5206 tcatggacat ggaagcggcc ctgcgccact acgtgcgggt gctgggcatg aaggaagtga 5266 tgcgcgacgc ggacggtaac gtctatttga aatgctggga cgagtgggac aagtactcgc 5326 tgatc 5331 2 81 PRT Ralstonia eutropha TomK polypeptide 2 Met Thr Leu Gln Thr Pro Ala Asn Gln Ala Ser Asp Pro Cys Arg Lys 1 5 10 15 Phe Val Arg Val Thr Gly Leu Asn Pro Arg Gly Phe Val Glu Phe Glu 20 25 30 Phe Ala Ile Gly Gly Pro Glu Met Phe Val Glu Leu Thr Leu Pro Ile 35 40 45 Asp Ala Phe Asp Ala Phe Cys Thr Thr Gln Asn Val Val Arg Leu Asp 50 55 60 Asp Ser Gly Ser Asp Phe His Arg Asp Pro Thr Thr Leu Arg Ser Asn 65 70 75 80 Pro 3 331 PRT Ralstonia eutropha TomL polypeptide 3 Met Thr Ile Glu Leu Lys Thr Val Asp Ile Lys Pro Leu Arg Gln Thr 1 5 10 15 Tyr Ala His Val Ala Arg His Ile Gly Gly Asp Lys Thr Ala Ser Arg 20 25 30 Tyr Gln Glu Gly Met Met Gly Ala Gln Pro Glu Thr Asn Phe His Tyr 35 40 45 Arg Pro Thr Trp Asp Pro Ala His Gln Ile Phe Asp Ala Ser Arg Ser 50 55 60 Ala Ile Arg Met Ala Ser Trp Tyr Val Leu Lys Asp Pro Arg Gln Tyr 65 70 75 80 Tyr Tyr Ala Ser Trp Thr Thr Ala Arg Ala Arg Gln Gln Asp Thr Met 85 90 95 Glu Ser Asn Phe Glu Phe Val Glu Ser Arg Arg Met Ile Asp Arg Met 100 105 110 Pro Ala Glu Val Ala Lys His Ala Leu Asp Leu Leu Val Pro Leu Arg 115 120 125 His Ala Ala Trp Gly Ala Asn Met Asn Asn Ala Gln Val Cys Ala Leu 130 135 140 Gly Tyr Gly Thr Ala Phe Thr Ala Ala Ala Met Phe His Ala Met Asp 145 150 155 160 Asn Leu Gly Val Ala Gln Tyr Leu Thr Arg Leu Ala Leu Ala Val Ala 165 170 175 Gly Pro Glu Val Leu Asp Ala Gly Arg His Ala Trp Leu Glu His Pro 180 185 190 Ala Trp Gln Pro Leu Arg His Tyr Ile Glu Asp Thr Phe Val Val Asp 195 200 205 Asp Pro Val Glu Leu Phe Val Ala Gln Asn Leu Ala Leu Asp Gly Met 210 215 220 Leu Tyr Pro Leu Val Tyr Asp Arg Phe Val Asp Glu Arg Ile Ala Leu 225 230 235 240 Gly Gly Gly Ser Ala Ile Ala Met Leu Thr Ala Phe Met Pro Glu Trp 245 250 255 His Glu Glu Ser Lys Arg Trp Val Asp Ala Val Val Lys Thr Met Ala 260 265 270 Ala Glu Ser Glu Glu Asn Lys Ala Leu Leu Ala His Trp Thr Arg Asp 275 280 285 Trp Ala Gly Arg Ala Phe Ala Ala Leu Gln Pro Val Ala Glu Leu Ala 290 295 300 Phe Pro Thr His Ala Pro Glu Val Leu Asp Ala Val Arg Glu Gln Phe 305 310 315 320 Gln Thr Arg Ile Ser Lys Leu Gly Ile Ala Leu 325 330 4 89 PRT Ralstonia eutropha TomM polypeptide 4 Met Ser Asn Val Phe Ile Ala Phe Gln Ala Asn Glu Glu Ser Arg Pro 1 5 10 15 Val Val Glu Ala Ile Leu Ala Asp Asn Pro Asp Ala Val Leu Val Glu 20 25 30 Ser Pro Gly Met Val Lys Ile Asp Ala Pro Ser His Leu Thr Ile Arg 35 40 45 Arg Gln Thr Ile Glu Glu Leu Thr Gly Thr Arg Phe Asp Leu Gln Gln 50 55 60 Ile His Val Asn Leu Ile Thr Leu Ser Gly His Ile Glu Glu Asp Asp 65 70 75 80 Asp Ala Phe Thr Leu Ser Trp Lys His 85 5 515 PRT Ralstonia eutropha TomN polypeptide 5 Met Glu Thr Pro Thr Gln Lys Lys Lys Leu Gly Leu Lys Glu Arg Tyr 1 5 10 15 Ala Ala Met Thr Arg Gly Leu Gly Trp Asp Thr Thr Tyr Gln Pro Met 20 25 30 Asp Lys Val Phe Pro Tyr Asp Arg Tyr Glu Gly Ile Lys Ile His Asp 35 40 45 Trp Asp Lys Trp Val Asp Pro Phe Arg Leu Thr Met Asp Ala Tyr Trp 50 55 60 Lys Tyr Gln Gly Glu Lys Glu Lys Lys Leu Tyr Ala Val Ile Asp Ala 65 70 75 80 Phe Thr Gln Asn Asn Ala Phe Leu Gly Val Thr Asp Ala Arg Tyr Ile 85 90 95 Asn Ala Leu Lys Leu Phe Val Gln Gly Val Thr Pro Leu Glu Tyr Leu 100 105 110 Ala His Arg Gly Phe Ala His Val Gly Arg His Phe Thr Gly Glu Gly 115 120 125 Ala Arg Val Ala Cys Gln Met Gln Ser Ile Asp Glu Leu Arg His Tyr 130 135 140 Gln Thr Glu Thr His Ala Leu Ser Thr Tyr Asn Lys Phe Phe Asn Gly 145 150 155 160 Leu His His Ser Asn His Trp Phe Asp Arg Val Trp Tyr Leu Ser Val 165 170 175 Pro Lys Ser Phe Phe Glu Asp Ala Tyr Ser Ala Gly Pro Phe Glu Phe 180 185 190 Leu Thr Ala Val Ser Phe Ser Phe Glu Tyr Val Leu Thr Asn Leu Leu 195 200 205 Phe Val Pro Phe Met Ser Gly Ala Ala Tyr Asn Gly Asp Met Ser Thr 210 215 220 Val Thr Phe Gly Phe Ser Ala Gln Ser Asp Glu Ser Arg His Met Thr 225 230 235 240 Leu Gly Ile Glu Cys Ile Lys Phe Leu Leu Glu Gln Asp Pro Asp Asn 245 250 255 Val Pro Ile Val Gln Arg Trp Ile Asp Lys Trp Phe Trp Arg Gly Tyr 260 265 270 Arg Leu Leu Thr Leu Val Ala Met Met Met Asp Tyr Met Gln Pro Lys 275 280 285 Arg Val Met Ser Trp Arg Glu Ala Trp Glu Met Tyr Ala Glu Gln Asn 290 295 300 Gly Gly Ala Leu Phe Lys Asp Leu Ala Arg Tyr Gly Ile Arg Glu Pro 305 310 315 320 Lys Gly Trp Gln Asp Ala Cys Glu Gly Lys Asp His Ile Ser His Gln 325 330 335 Ala Trp Ala Thr Phe Tyr Gly Phe Asn Ala Ala Ala Pro Phe His Thr 340 345 350 Trp Val Pro Gln Gln Asp Glu Met Ala Trp Leu Ser Ala Lys Tyr Pro 355 360 365 Glu Thr Phe Asp Gln His Tyr Arg Pro Arg Leu Glu His Trp Asp Glu 370 375 380 Gln Ala Lys Ala Gly Asn Arg Phe Tyr Met Lys Thr Leu Pro Met Leu 385 390 395 400 Cys Gln Thr Cys Gln Ile Pro Met Leu Phe Thr Glu Pro Gly Asp Pro 405 410 415 Thr Arg Leu Cys Ala Arg Glu Ser Asn Tyr Phe Gly Asn Lys Phe His 420 425 430 Phe Cys Ser Asp His Cys Lys Glu Ile Phe Asp His Glu Pro Glu Lys 435 440 445 Tyr Val Gln Ala Trp Leu Pro Val His Gln Ile Tyr Gln Gly Asn Cys 450 455 460 Phe Lys Pro Gly Val Asp Pro Ser Ala Glu Gly Phe Asp Pro Leu Ala 465 470 475 480 Ala Val Leu Asp Tyr Tyr Glu Val Glu Pro Arg Asp Thr Met Asp Phe 485 490 495 Glu Gly Ser Glu Asp Gln Lys Asn Phe Ala Ala Trp Arg Gly Gln Ala 500 505 510 Thr Ser Asn 515 6 118 PRT Ralstonia eutropha TomO polypeptide 6 Met Thr Val Asn Ala Leu Lys Pro Tyr Asp Phe Pro Leu Met Asp Thr 1 5 10 15 Val Glu Lys Phe Pro Ala Pro Leu Leu Tyr Val Asn Trp Glu Asn His 20 25 30 Leu Met Phe Pro Ala Pro Phe Cys Leu Pro Leu Pro Pro Glu Thr Pro 35 40 45 Phe Ser Ala Leu Ala Glu Gln Ile Leu Pro Pro Val Tyr Gly Tyr His 50 55 60 Pro Asp Phe Ala Arg Ile Asp Trp Lys Arg Val Gln Trp Phe Arg Ser 65 70 75 80 Gly Gln Pro Trp Thr Pro Asp Thr Ser Lys Ser Leu Gly Glu Asn Gly 85 90 95 Leu Gly His Lys Asp Leu Ile Ser Phe Arg Thr Pro Gly Leu Asp Gly 100 105 110 Ile Gly Gly Ala Ser Ile 115 7 352 PRT Ralstonia eutropha TomP polypeptide 7 Met Ser His Gln Leu Thr Ile Glu Pro Leu Gly Ala Thr Ile Glu Val 1 5 10 15 Glu Glu Gly Gln Thr Ile Leu Asp Ala Ala Leu Arg Gln Gly Ile Tyr 20 25 30 Ile Pro His Ala Cys Cys His Gly Leu Cys Gly Thr Cys Lys Val Ser 35 40 45 Val Leu Asp Gly Glu Ala Asp Leu Gly Glu Ala Asn Pro Phe Ala Leu 50 55 60 Met Asp Phe Glu Arg Glu Glu Gly Lys Ala Leu Ala Cys Cys Ala Thr 65 70 75 80 Leu Gln Ala Asp Thr Thr Ile Glu Ala Asp Val Asp Lys Asp Pro Asp 85 90 95 Gly Glu Ile Ile Pro Val Arg Asp Phe Glu Ala Asp Val Met Cys Ile 100 105 110 Asp Gln Leu Thr Pro Thr Ile Lys Ala Ile Arg Leu Arg Leu Ala Glu 115 120 125 Pro Met Arg Phe Gln Ala Gly Gln Tyr Val Gln Phe Glu Ile Pro Gly 130 135 140 Leu Gly Gln Thr Arg Ala Phe Ser Ile Ala Asn Ala Pro Ala Asp Val 145 150 155 160 Ala Ala Thr Gly Glu Ile Glu Leu Asn Val Arg Gln Val Pro Gly Gly 165 170 175 Leu Gly Thr Gly Tyr Leu His Glu Gln Leu Ala Ala Gly Asp Arg Val 180 185 190 Arg Leu Ser Gly Pro Tyr Gly Arg Phe Phe Val Arg Arg Ser Ala Gly 195 200 205 Leu Pro Met Ile Phe Met Ala Gly Gly Ser Gly Leu Ser Ser Pro Arg 210 215 220 Ser Met Ile Cys Asp Leu Leu Glu Gly Gly Val Thr Ala Pro Ile Thr 225 230 235 240 Leu Val Tyr Gly Gln Arg Asn Ala Lys Glu Leu Tyr Tyr His Asp Glu 245 250 255 Phe Arg Ala Leu Ser Glu Arg Tyr Pro Asn Phe Thr Tyr Val Pro Ala 260 265 270 Leu Ser Glu Gly Ala Gly Asp Gly Glu Val Ala Gln Gly Phe Val His 275 280 285 Asp Val Ala Lys Ala His Phe Asp Asn Asp Phe Ser Gly His Gln Ala 290 295 300 Tyr Leu Cys Gly Pro Pro Ala Met Ile Asp Ala Cys Ile Thr Ala Leu 305 310 315 320 Met Gln Gly Arg Leu Phe Glu Arg Asp Ile Tyr His Glu Lys Phe Ile 325 330 335 Ser Ala Ala Asp Ala Gln Gln Thr Arg Ser Pro Leu Phe Arg Lys Val 340 345 350 8 111 PRT Ralstonia eutropha TomQ polypeptide 8 Met Asp Thr Cys Ile Lys Ala Thr Val Arg Val Ala Gln Thr Gly Glu 1 5 10 15 Ser Phe Ser Cys Thr Ala Gly Glu Ser Leu Leu Ala Gly Met Ala Lys 20 25 30 Leu Gly Arg Arg Gly Ile Pro Val Gly Cys Leu Asn Gly Gly Cys Gly 35 40 45 Val Cys Lys Val Arg Val Leu Ser Gly Asp Val Arg Lys Leu Gly Pro 50 55 60 Val Ser Arg Ala His Val Ser Ala Asp Glu Glu Gly Leu Gly Tyr Thr 65 70 75 80 Leu Ala Cys Arg Val Ala Pro Gln Gly Asp Val Glu Leu Glu Val Ala 85 90 95 Gly Lys Met Gln Lys Pro Phe Leu Cys Cys Ala Gln Ala Arg Lys 100 105 110 9 34 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Designed PCR primer 9 atcgacccat tgaccatggc cctgcagacc ccag 34 10 34 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Designed PCR primer 10 ctcaggagca acccatggca atcgagctga aaac 34 11 34 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Designed PCR primer 11 tacttccagt acgcgtcgat ggtcaggcgg aacg 34 12 34 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Designed PCR primer 12 gcccagcttt gccatggcgg cgagcagcga ttcg 34 13 30 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Designed PCR primer 13 caatgaaagg ggatccgagg cgacatcgac 30 14 30 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Designed PCR primer 14 atgtcgacgg gatccatctc gattgtcacg 30 

What is claimed is:
 1. An isolated DNA fragment of about 5.3 Kb containing a toluene monooxygenase gene, having 3 BamHI, 1 C1aI, 1 EcoRI, 3 KpnI, 2 NcoI, 2 NspV, 2 ScaI, 2 SmaI, 2 SphI, 1 StuI, 0 DraI, 0 EcoRV, 0 HindIII, OHpaI, 0 NdeI, 0 PvuII, 0 ScaI, 0 Sse83871, 0 XbaI, 0 XhoI restriction sites, and having a restriction map of:


2. An isolated DNA fragment having a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 in the Sequence Listing.
 3. A DNA fragment encoding a protein having a toluene monooxygenase activity and being hybridizable to a nucleotide sequence from 200 . . . 4799 of SEQ ID NO: 1 or a complementary sequence thereof under stringent hybridization conditions.
 4. A recombinant DNA comprising a vector which can replicate or can be maintained in a host and a DNA fragment according to any one of claims 1 to
 3. 5. The recombinant DNA fragment according to claim 4, wherein the vector can be maintained or replicate in a bacterium.
 6. A transformant obtainable by introducing into a host microorganism a recombinant DNA comprising the DNA fragment according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ligated to a vector which can replicate or be maintained in the host.
 7. A method for producing a toluene monooxygenase, comprising: introducing into a host microorganism a recombinant DNA which comprises a vector which can replicate or can be maintained in the host microorganism and a DNA fragment according to any one of claims 1 to 3 to form a transformant which produces a toluene monooxygenase encoded by said DNA fragment.
 8. A method for remedying an environment polluted with a pollutant being at least either of a halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compound or an aromatic compound, comprising a step of degrading the pollutant by bringing a transformant into contact with the pollutant, wherein the transformant is obtainable by introducing into a host microorganism a recombinant DNA constituted by ligating a vector which enables retention and replication in the host and a DNA fragment according to any one of claims 1 to
 3. 9. The remediation method according to claim 8, wherein the environment is soil.
 10. The remediation method according to claim 9 comprising the steps of: introducing an aqueous medium containing the transformant into the polluted soil; and supplying nutrients and/or oxygen for proliferation of the transformant in the polluted soil.
 11. The remediation method according to claim 10 wherein the transformant is introduced in the soil by applying pressure through an injection well provided in the polluted soil.
 12. The remediation method according to claim 9 wherein the polluted soil is introduced in a liquid phase containing the transformant.
 13. The remediation method according to claim 9 wherein the polluted soil is brought into contact with a carrier holding the transformant.
 14. The remediation method according to claim 8 wherein the environment is air.
 15. The remediation method according to claim 14 wherein the polluted air is introduced into a liquid phase containing the transformant.
 16. The remediation method according to claim 14 wherein the polluted air is brought into contact with a carrier holding the transformant.
 17. The remediation method according to claim 16 wherein contact is carried out by placing the carrier holding the transformant in a container, introducing polluted air from one side of the container, and discharging cleaned air from another side.
 18. The remediation method according to claim 8 wherein the halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compound is either trichloroethylene (TCE) or dichloroethylene (DCE).
 19. The remediation method according to claim 8 wherein the aromatic compound is at least one of toluene, benzene, phenol, and cresol. 